Chapter Text
Zuko can feel the wisps of Agni reaching out to him as it appears over the horizon, pulling him from sleep. As he slowly moves into consciousness, he starts to register the slight movement of his head as it lifts up and down. He isn't sure when it registers with him that he is laying with his head pillowed on Toph's chest, but he turns his face so he can inhale her scent and nuzzle his face deeper into her.
His hands come up underneath her shirt and splayed wide on her waist, pulling her closer to him. A low groan is heard more through her chest than from her mouth and Toph's arms move to wrap around his shoulders, squeezing him just a little before relaxing back. He drifts in and out of sleep, never fully able to slip back into the blackness, but enjoying being able to float in that in between area of consciousness.
An hour or so must go by since the first time he woke up when he feels fingers trailing up and down his back in a lazy manner. He smiles a little at the gentle caressing, "Good morning," he murmurs to her.
She lets out a hum in response but doesn't say anything. He lifts his head from her chest and looks at her. Her eyes are closed and her hair is spread out on the pillow beside, all tangled but somehow looking so soft. Her hands move from his back to rest against his shoulders. "Why are you awake so early?" she whispers.
"You were awake before me," he says, but can't help the smile on his face. She looks so cute when her face scrunches up.
"Nay, that is a lie. I refuse to accept that I woke up this early on my own." Zuko chuckles and moves up the bed until his face is level with hers. He feels her leg come up and hook on his hip, yanking his hips down to meet hers and her hand pulls at his shoulders to try and get him closer.
He can feel the blood starting to rush downwards as soon as his hips meet hers and he shifts a little so that it's not too obvious that he's starting to sport a semi. He moves his arms so that they are braced on either side of her head and he drops his forehead down to hers. He can see a little smile playing on her lips and he feels the urge to kiss her. Remembering that he is allowed to do that now, that it even seems like she is inviting him to do so, he dips his head down and presses his lips against hers.
It's a very chaste kiss but can feel her smile against his own. She tilts her chin upwards towards him, and he meets her halfway, kissing her deeply enough that it sends a powerful surge of want straight to his dick. He is sure that she can feel how hard he is now even if he is trying to keep his hips from making direct contact with hers.
Toph hums against his lips, "Do we have to get out of bed right away?"
"Well, our guests may wonder where we are, so we do have to leave it eventually." The smirk that comes to her face at his words should make him nervous, but it just makes him smile back at her.
Her hips push up into his, effectively pushing his hard dick against her center, "I think they'll be fine by themselves for a while," she hooks her leg tighter around his hip and effectively flips them over so that she's on top of him.
After breakfast, Katara links arms with Toph and together, they walk out of the palace. They both had raised hell about an escort trailing them; they're master benders after all. It was only after Zuko stepped in and said that an escort wasn't needed that the guards backed off and allowed the women to leave.
They walked in silence for almost the entire walk into the center of town where all the shops are located before Katara finally breaks, "My Spirits, you're killing me." Toph laughs but doesn't comment back, just kicks a pebble in their path. "Come on! Tell me, how is he?"
"How is he with what?" she asks, feigning obliviousness.
Katara pulls at her arm a little, "You're really going to make me say it, aren't you? How is he in bed, Toph?! What's he like?"
"It's weird to me that you want to know."
"It's weird to me that you don't want to talk about it," Katara shoots back. She has a point there; Toph has never been reluctant on sharing the details of her latest conquest.
"We haven't done anything," Toph shrugs, trying to avoid the topic, and veers off towards where she remembers a particular fabric shop is.
"Oh, that's bullshit," She hears Katara mutter behind her. They step into the shop, the bell jingling behind them as the door closes. Together, they move towards a wall of fabric and Katara makes an appreciative hum.
Every so often, Katara holds out a piece of fabric for Toph to feel but each time she just shrugs so they move on. "Come on, you have to give me something!"
"Fine! Fine. This morning... we," she hesitates again, "We did stuff. There, you happy?"
"Oh? Like what kind of stuff?"
"Spirits, Katara," Toph mutters and moves to another section of the store.
"Since when are you so secretive about your sex life?" Katara stands back and crosses her arms over her chest. Toph can feel other people in the store turn and look at them, probably shooting judging glares at them. The look that Katara is currently leveling at her is making her skin prickle and she knows that she won't be able to skirt this conversation much longer.
"Fuck, okay. Fine. I jerked him off and he went down on me," she whispers quickly to the other girl.
Katara is silent for a moment, "That's it?"
"That's it," Toph nods and reaches out a hand to finger the silky fabrics that line the wall.
"Well, that's cool I guess. What about your first time? What was that like, tell me what led up to it," Katara pulls at her arm again. Toph opens her mouth to tell her off, to say that she isn't going to share that information when she's cut off again, "No, actually. Tell me how you knew that you liked him." This stops Toph in her spot. When did she know she liked him?
"Come on. Let's go somewhere else. I can't even see what we're looking at," Toph uses this moment to skim through her mind for an appropriate response as she moves towards the doorway and out onto the street.
"I know what you're doing and you're not going to skip out on telling me this," she can hear the frown in Katara's voice and she sighs deeply.
"Fine, I'll tell you. But, let's get some tea so we can sit down. I feel like this is going to be a long conversation." Katara seems to immediately find a teashop and instantly gets a table for the two of them. Toph curses under her breath; she thought it would take a little longer to get something and she would have more time to figure something out.
Once the server has delivered their respective drinks, Toph blows on hers and thinks of how to start. Part of her wants to tell the truth, to tell Katara how the relationship started out as a scam but then grew to be something more. Part of her wants someone to confide in about it, about some of the things she's too scared to voice or think about. But she can't do that to Zuko; he's trusting her to keep it just between them, to keep the whole thing between them. Besides, it's working out just fine.
"Okay, so the moment I knew," she thinks back about how she had watched him perform some firebending moves in the training arena and his grunts from exertion that started a fire in her belly that has yet to diminish. That had been about the first time she felt any sexual desire towards him. but the more she thinks about this, the less she wants to say it, kind of wants to keep it to herself. Instead, she decides to go with a different moment in history.
Two Years Prior
Toph sat cross-legged in front of some random pond in a garden area that she had found while wandering the halls. She was ripping out grass and throwing it toward the water. She'd been sitting there for close to an hour and she was sure someone was going to come along and tell her she didn't belong or that she needed to stay in her designated side of the Palace, but no one ever came.
She could feel her anger boiling just under the surface, trying to claw its way out. Anger at her parents, at all the suitors that were waiting, at the fucking universe for curing her like that... she knew so many people would kill to be in her position, to have the power she had, but right then, she just wanted to be nothing. She knew she needed to go back to her parents and give them an explanation as to why she took off like that, but she couldn't yet. She just needed a fucking minute.
The moment he was in range of her sense, she knew he was coming directly for her. Zuko's footsteps were silent on the grass as he crossed the garden and eventually sat beside her, their shoulders brushing just barely. Neither of them said anything, but his silent presence made her feel immensely better.
"They're wanting me to marry," she whispered. "No, they're not wanting me to, they're forcing me to. Have a line of suitors ready, they just need to determine who has the most connections that will benefit the company the most," her words were bitter and she spat them out harshly. "Before I could even interject, say that I was opposed to the idea, they fucking said that I needed to have kids as soon as the marriage was bound so that an heir could be produced! I don't even fucking like kids, let alone want some of my own," her voice was rising and anger was filling her chest.
"I'm fucking 16 years old, who the actual fuck thinks a 16-year-old should marry?" But she knew that answer. A lot of people. A lot of people got married at 16, some even got married younger. And that's fine, but that's them. She can't do it, she doesn't want to do it. "There's so much I still want to do. And I know, okay," she huffs out a humorless laugh, "I know I've accomplished more than the average 16-year-old. Fucking Greatest Earthbender in the World, Inventor of metalbending, Teacher of the Avatar, all that shit... but, I haven't..." her voice cracked a little and a flood of tears she didn't even know she was holding back spilled over.
Immediately, Zuko's arm came over her shoulders and drew her to him. She turned her face into his chest and inhaled his smoky scent. "I haven't-" she chokes on a breath, "I haven't even told him that I love him and now I'm just expected to marry some fucker and make do with that." Her brain barely registered that she said him but Zuko didn't question it, just rubbed her arm making quiet sounds of comfort. She cried into his chest then, harder than before. It felt like the tears wouldn't stop coming, they would just soak through his shirt, which she was sure was uncomfortable, but he didn't say anything.
An unknown amount of time had passed since Toph had started crying until the point where the tears finally tapered off. Her breaths were still a little hitched at times as if she might start crying again, and his raspy voice was quiet in the night, "You can stay here, Toph. You can stay here as long as you want. I can protect you here, keep you away from all of that."
She shook her head a little, "You can't do that. My parents would come for me."
He was quiet for a moment, "You know, you were one of the first to welcome me into the group, tried to give me another chance after all the fuck ups I had done," he told her. "We may not be blood-related, but you are my family and I will protect you from whatever threatens to hurt you- emotionally or physically. We'll be in this together, you and me."
Toph could feel the truth in his words and his vibrations. For a moment, she wanted to ask what he was going to do when it came time for him to marry if he was going to be as cowardly as she was. But, as he says, he had her back and would protect her and she would do the same for her.
Toph looks up at Katara, trying to judge her silence. She hadn't told anyone about that night, about what he had said to her. As she recounts the story to her friend, she finds herself smiling, unable to wipe it off her face and she realizes, even though they've only recently agreed to start being a couple, it was that moment that she knew she wouldn't ever leave his side.
He had promised to protect her, for it to be them against the world, to be by her side no matter what the world threw at them and she had silently vowed to do the same. And then, that day he came to her in the arena and told her what he had told his council about them dating, their bond was tested again. They had practically said their wedding vows that night, and she is only just now realizing it.
"Wow. That's-" Katara lets out a long breath, "Holy shit. I had no idea, Toph. That's beautiful," she reaches out a hand and places it on top of Toph's, "Really, it is. I'm not going to lie, I expected something raunchy."
Toph shoots a look in her direction, but a laugh breaks through her composure. Katara has a point, a lot of her romances had started with sex and ended in the same messy fashion. They sit there in silence together, drinking their tea, both of them lost in their own thoughts.
"So, what about the sex?" Katara finally asks.
Pursing her lips, Toph considers the question. "Why did I hope that what I just told you was going to be the end of it," she mutters under her breath. Letting out a sigh, she leans back in her chair and crosses her arms over her chest. "Fine, what do you want to know?"
"Ha. Well, for starters, what's he like?"
Toph tilts her head to the side and thinks about it for a moment. Of course, she doesn't have to tell Katara exactly what they have and haven't done, she's sure she could skip the gruesome details and just touch on the other parts. That morning had been the first time they did anything other than make out. Sure, when they kissed she could feel the power radiating through him, the way he restrained himself from pushing her further. "He's got this..." she pauses, searching for the word, "This energy brimming underneath his skin, like when he touches me, I can feel him having to hold himself back at times, almost vibrating with it.
"Is he rough?"
Toph blinks at the question. "I mean..." she hesitates. What they had done that morning wasn't rough. If anything, it was borderline lovemaking... well it was until he dipped his head between her thighs. She is sure she is going to have bruises where his fingers were digging into her hips as he attempted to hold her down. Part of her is glad they weren't on the ground because she's sure she would have unintentionally Earthbended. "He certainly can be rough, definitely likes o assert his dominance," she smirks, thinking of how quickly he is able to dominate any kiss they have and how easy it is for her to relinquish control to him.
"Spirits, that's hot."
"What about you and Aang? Are you two planning on getting married soon?" Toph asks, trying to change the subject from her love life.
When Katara hesitates to answer, when Toph can practically feel the mood of the girl sitting across from her change, she instantly is looking up at her. "Things have been different recently," Katara says quietly, and then abruptly stands up, pushing in her chair. Toph hears a few coins hit the table and she moves to get up as well, not realizing they were ready to leave.
"Different how?" she asks as she scrambles to keep up with Katara.
She shrugs as she pushes the door open and steps back out onto the street. "It happened a month or two ago. Everything was fine, and it seemed so sudden. One day, we were giggling and goofing off together, and then, almost overnight, something in him flipped and he became distant. He's hardly touched me and has been very short with me recently. Like getting here to the Fire Nation, that was all he seemed to care about for the past few days." They start walking down the street, their pace incredibly slow. It's more like they're walking because it seems like this conversation is too large to have while standing still.
"You can't think of anything that caused it?"
"No, it just seemed so sudden. It was like the day we got-" Katara suddenly stops walking, her heartbeat dropping and then immediately speeding up with panic. Toph can feel the way her breathing is starting to come faster and faster.
Toph places a hand on her arm, trying to draw her attention out of her own mind, "Katara, what? What is it? The day you got what?"
She's silent for a beat, "Nothing," she shakes her head and even without seismic sense, Toph knows that she is lying. "It's nothing. I'm just imagining things, I'm sure." Katara waves a hand in the air as if to brush away the conversation. She moves with purpose towards the next shop, not waiting for Toph to catch up.
When they get back to the palace, they're informed that Aang and Zuko are in the training arena and have been all day. They make their way toward that wing of the Palace, Katara being uncharacteristically quiet.
When they arrive, she notices Aang immediately stopping whatever move he was throwing at Zuko to look at where the girls are walking in. Zuko, dropping out of his defensive stance, turns to see what he's looking at, and Toph feels his heart skip a beat.
Fighting a smile, the couples meet up at the bench off to the side of the arena. Zuko wraps an arm around Toph's shoulders, pulling her into him and kissing the top of her head.
"Gross, you stink," she murmurs to him through a smile, but wraps an arm around his middle anyways and sinks into his side.
He ducks his head down and whispers in her ear, "Well, I'm about to go shower, you want to join me?" the blush that appears on her face is immediate and she pushes him away from her with a laugh.
Directing her sense over to the other couple, Toph realizes how tense they both are. Katara's frame seems to vibrate with anger and heartache. "Do you guys want to eat something?" Toph asks, hoping to steamroll over whatever weird thing is going on. She feels Zuko perk up at the thought of food as he moves to pull on his shirt.
"Actually, you guys go ahead. I want to talk to Aang about something," Katara says, forcing a smile into her voice. Toph furrows her brows but doesn't say anything, remembering what Katara had talked about in the street earlier. She can feel a question forming on Zuko's lips, but she pinches his hip to keep him quiet.
"Yeah, of course. Come find us whenever," Toph waves a hand in the air to signify a generalized timeframe. As she and Zuko part from the other couple, she can feel the nerves rolling off of Aang and the anger that is practically bursting from Katara.