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She doesn’t think that she has ever been happier. Every day is a new adventure and a new kind of smile. It is nice to smile after so long of not being able to, after so many times where the smile only reaches her lips. Azula supposes that it makes sense that she can smile so much now considering who she spends most of her days with.
The girl in question slaps her back between the shoulder blades and pushes a blue raspberry slushie into her hand. Azula hears the clatter of a skateboard and Toph fixes her green baseball cap, backwards, onto Azula’s head.
“So what are our plans for today?” Toph asks.
Azula shrugs. “You usually pick the places.”
“Exactly, that’s why I’m leaving it up to you this time.”
Azula thinks for a moment. They haven’t snuck into a nightclub in a while. But she thinks that they might be overdue for a calmer kind of day or night. “What about the beach? I heard that there is going to be a barbeque and a firework display.”
“Beach sounds great, but don’t expect your girl to go in the water.” Toph declares.
“I’m not much of a water person either.” Azula shrugs. It is her way of subtly noting that she is actually rather afraid of the water, largely due in part to that she can’t swim.
“Then why the beach?”
“Because I’m a suntan and sunglasses kind of person.”
“You’re definitely a sun person.” Toph says, “ya know, minus the happy sunshiney demeanor.”
“I’m not…!” She starts
“I didn’t say you were a storm cloud either.” Toph shrugs. “I’m just saying that you don’t shit rainbows and glitter like TyLee and Katata!” Azula crinkles her nose. And just because Toph is well aware of how she reacts to the crass imagery she continues, “you’re more of a flaming shitter, like when you eat…”
Azula swats her with the magazine she had been reading, “you need to stop.”
“You should see your face right now! I mean I can’t either, but, like I have my imagination and it is hilarious.”
To be honest, Azula can’t imagine that Toph’s mental image is too far off.
“Hey, wanna try my skateboard?”
Azula peers at Toph’s skinned knees and neon bandaids. “Depends, how often am I going to get scrapes like those?”
“Depends how good you are. You’re good at almost every sport and you’ve got good balance, so I think you can handle it. We can go skating on the boardwalk!”
“So that I can land on my ass, not just in front of you, but the entire beach and then some.”
“Exactly!” Toph declares. “Your therapist did say to do some shame attacking activities.”
Azula rolls her eyes, “sounds fantastic. And since you can’t tell I’m…”
“Rolling my eyes?” Toph fills in. “I feel like your eyes are rolling more than they aren’t.”
.oOo.
The beach is rather packed. Toph is sticking band aids to Azula’s freshly bleeding knee. She misses several times until they begin playing a game of ‘hot, cold’. “Absolutely on fire.” Azula mutters as Toph hovers the bandaid over Azula’s scrap.
Toph grins and sticks it down. Azula now wears a very bright and electric blue dinosaur print bandaid that doesn’t match her ripped jean shorts and her red, gold dragon print crop top. Perhaps she should have worn the blue flame shirt with the black backdrop.
She adjusts her gold framed sunglasses and the hat Toph insisted that she keep on for the duration of the barbecue. Even Toph is more color coordinated than she is. Her neon green bandaids match her faded, muddied shorts and her deep green sports jersey. ‘Laogai Lizards 03’ it reads in white text. Her sneakers are white and decorated with lines and doodled stars of green sharpie.
The smell of burnt hamburgers drifts over the boardwalk. “I’m going to guess that the barbecue has begun.” Azula comments.
“DId you get the stuff?” Toph asks.
Azula loads the skateboard into her car and retrieves a bagful of sparklers and smoke bombs.
Toph grins mischievously. “Perfect.”
The sun is well on its way down by the time they make their way onto the beach. Azula spies Zuko mingling with Jet and Katara. Sokka is off with Suki and Aang, engaged in a game of beach volleyball. And Mai is suffering through TyLee weaving seashells into her locks.
"Burger or wiener?" Chan asks.
"Can't you just call it a hotdog like everyone else?" Azula asks.
"Burger it is m'lady." He plucks a patty onto a bun, squeezes an absurd amount of ketchup and mustard onto it, and hands it to Azula.
"And for you?" Chan looks at Toph.
"One wiener and one burger."
"Of course!" He hands her her food.
Azula finds them a spot on the beach and spreads their towels down. She pats the spot in her lap. She remembers that the gesture means nothing to Toph when the girl plops herself down next to Azula instead. She slings an arm over Azula's shoulder.
For the longest while they simply sit there, Azula starring at the darkening sky and Toph taking in the smell of the multiple fires lighting up the sand. Palm fronds dance in the breeze as the first firework lunches into the air.
Toph jolts. She rubs the back of her head, "gee, princess, you sure know how to pick the fun activities."
"That one was orange, it kind of drooped down like a shower faucet." Azula describes as she massages Toph's shoulders. That is how they spend the next hour or so. Fireworks bursting and Azula doing her best to paint an image of them in Toph's mind.
"Challenge mode!" Toph declares at the grand finale as Azula struggles to keep pace with the sparkling bursts.
After the show wraps up, Azula leads the two of them down the beach. Water tugs and pushes the sand as the tide recedes. ."Here, hold this." Azula places two smoke bombs in either of her hands; one blue and one green. She draws a match and lights them and then lights a sparkler to herself.
"Now picture this."
Toph nods.
"There are two large billowing clouds, one green and one blue. And in them, a bunch of fireflies blink. They're small and bright yellow, bright enough to be seen through the smoke."
"Sounds pretty badass." Toph says.
"It's quite beautiful." Azula comments as she waves the sparkler through the smoke.
"Ya know what else is beautiful?" Toph asks.
"Me?" Azula asks.
"Well I was gonna say that noise Sokka makes when you step on his little toe. But yeah, I guess that you're beautiful too."
Azula gives a humored sniff. "Truly, that is actually a hideous noise."
Toph gives one of her booming laughs. "Man, we should do this again some time, princess. It's not as daring and adventurous but we should do it again."
"We will." Azula replies. She sets her finished sparkler to the side and kisses the other girl. "And many more things."