Archive of Our Own ^beta

Sometimes being blind sucked.

Usually, it didn’t. She was Toph Beifong- the greatest Earthbender in the world. She could see with her feet. And who needed eyes when you could do that? But as she’d gotten older, Toph had realized that there were times- rare ones- when it would be nice to actually know what people are talking about without having to get someone to describe it. Or be able to turn when someone said ‘Look!’ and see what everyone else was seeing. Vibrations were great, and tracing shapes and details based on the earth or metal around them was fun. But it made it hard to connect, sometimes, since her friends couldn’t see the way she did, either.

Today, was one of the sucky days. Katara and Zuko were showing a picture of Izumi that everyone was fawning over. Toph hadn’t met the kid yet, so she didn’t exactly have a solid grasp on her. And being Auntie Toph lost some of it’s sparkle when she didn’t even know what the kid looked like. Zuko had promised that she would meet the baby when they went back to the Fire Nation, but that didn’t help her feel included now.

Still, she did what she always did when the Gaang was losing it over things she couldn’t see. She made sarcastic comments and poked fun at Sokka for forgetting she was blind. Luckily, Katara was only too happy to describe her daughter in crazy detail, so Toph didn’t have to suffer in confusion for long. And after a ridiculously long time- when she had gotten bored listening to Suki and Katara coo over baby noises- Toph started listening to her surroundings, instead.

Ba Sing Se was always busy, always bustling. Since the war ended things were a lot better for the average person in the Walled City. The Lower Ring wasn’t as crowded and the people weren’t as desperate as they’d been while Ozai and Azula were wreaking their havoc. But one thing that hadn’t changed was The Jasmine Dragon. Uncle’s teashop was still the destination spot for locals and tourists alike, if they wanted good tea. And the Gaang never went anywhere else when they met up in Ba Sing Se.

So as the group chattered about Sokka’s newest- and weirdest- invention, Toph eavesdropped on some of the conversations happening around the shop. And she could tell by the way he sat in his seat that Zuko was doing the same thing. It was their thing. Even though Zuko mostly did it because he was paranoid. They were working on that, though.

“I can’t believe Hye-Jin didn’t say yes.” Toph focused on the male voice a few tables away. “She’s wanted to go out with you for months. I think her dad had something to do with it- she said he was planning a marriage for her.” She just barely made out the sound of a dejected sigh coming from the man’s table partner. “I can meet up with her, set up a place for you to talk?”

But as intriguing as that idea might have sounded, Toph could feel the man’s heart through the stone floor. He was lying. Not about the girl wanting to go out with the other guy- no, he just wasn’t going to help them meet up. And that kind of ruined Toph’s fun, knowing a friend would play a trick like that. So, she drowned him out and moved on to the next conversation.

“The spa was so nice! I’ve never been to one before, I had heard such awful things-”

Toph rolled her eyes. That was shaping up to be a boring conversation. And she definitely didn’t want to hear it. She moved on.

“Look. Do you see her? The blind girl.” Toph tensed at the woman’s choice of descriptor. She hated when people called her that- even if the person just didn’t know her name. She was more than her blindness. She was more than her lack of ‘normal’ sight. But she kept listening, anyway. She wanted to know what this person had to say about ‘the blind girl’. “She looks just like our Ji-Min, don’t you think? Your eyes and everything.”

Toph tilted her head, curiously. That was new- usually people only had pitying or crude things to say about her. Until they knew who she was, at least. She tuned back in as a man’s voice answered the woman. “I saw her. She laughed earlier and I saw your smile. But we can’t let ourselves go there, Jung-Hyun. We promised to rest this year, remember?”

Toph felt a hand on her arm and jerked back, startled.

“Hey, Aang wants to go see a play after this,” Sokka said, words coming out a little slower than usual- the sign that he was worried but trying not to act like it. “What do you say? Wanna join?”

Toph focused for a second, taking in the way all of her friends were turned towards her. They were watching her- she could feel it. And that just made her wonder how long she’d been out of it before they’d gotten her attention. She listened for the table with the couple, but they weren’t saying anything, now. That had been weird. She’d have to ask Zuko if he’d heard them once they all got out of here.

“Toph?” That was Aang. “You okay?”

Yeah. She was fine. She sat up straight and gave her usual resolute nod. “Yup, just trying to decide if a play is really worth it. I mean, no other play has kept my attention as well as the Ember Island Players.” The entire table groaned and Toph burst into semi-maniacal laughter. She knew that’d get them off her back- and it was fun to pick at Zuko about his love of theatre.

“Forget it,” Sokka said, and Toph could tell he was tossing his arms up in defeat. “Let’s go find a festival or something- there’s always one happening for some spirit or legend.” The group grumbled, but no one actually disagreed. “Besides, maybe they’ll have food!” he added, suddenly excited again.

“Sokka, you literally are still eating. How can you be this excited about other food?” Katara asked, mildly disgusted if you went by her tone.

And yup! That was all it took for the Water Tribe siblings to fall into their usual bickering. The rest of the group got up and followed behind Sokka and Katara as they made fun of each other. You wouldn’t even know she was Fire Lady with the way she acted around her brother. Not that Sokka seemed very Chief-in-Training at the moment, either.

It took almost two whole minutes of listening to those two go at it before Toph realized: Zuko wasn’t with them. Leaning into her seismic sense, she felt for signs of a struggle or anything that might mean he was in trouble. But there was nothing. So, she widened her search, all the way back  to the teashop. She felt for him, the distinct way he shifted his weight when he walked, and…there! He was still inside the shop. Still at the table they’d been sitting at, too. Toph shrugged and caught up with the others.

Guess he wanted to stay with Uncle.

Zuko leaned back in his seat, an amused half-smile resting easily on his face. It was nice to be out of the Fire Nation. It was even nicer to be out for a reason other than diplomacy. And even though he missed Izumi more than he’d imagined possible, he was glad that he and Katara had left her with his mother for the week-long trip to visit their friends. Being Fire Lord was hard but being a dad- a good one- was harder.

So, yeah, he was enjoying the baby-free time. And as the Gaang sat in his uncle’s teashop, Zuko let his guard down a little. He scanned the room, but not for assassins. He listened in on other conversations, but for idle gossip instead of plots against him or his friends. It was nice. Kinda fun, even. And it was a thing that he and Toph had somehow turned into a competition a few years back- seeing which of them could pick up the best stories.

He could already tell her focus was not at their table. But there were so many side conversations she could be listening in on that he didn’t bother trying to figure out which. Instead, he focused on an older couple a table or two away. The woman kept glancing at Toph and then looking away, again. That wasn’t unusual, though. While everyone recognized the Avatar,  the Earth Kingdom had a rather strong affinity for the Blind Bandit. Toph drew more crowds than Aang most days- and she loved to rub it in.

So, while it wasn’t strange for the woman to be interested in Toph, it was a little strange when he focused on what she was actually saying about her. “She looks just like our Ji-Min, don’t you think? Your eyes and everything,” he heard the woman tell the man. Curious, Zuko took a good look at the man, too focused on Toph to notice Zuko watching. Then Zuko turned back to his friend. And oddly enough, there was a rather…strong resemblance. Zuko looked at the woman, next.

Zuko’s eyes narrowed, slightly.

He had always thought she looked like Poppy Beifong. And even now he still saw Poppy in Toph’s face and posture. But he saw this other woman as well. Curiosity more than piqued, Zuko leaned further back in his seat to catch what the man was saying. “…saw her. She laughed earlier and I saw your smile. But we can’t let ourselves go there, Jung-Hyun. We promised to rest this year, remember?”

His uncle had always told Zuko that he didn’t think things through. And in the time since he’d become Fire Lord, he had tried very hard not to live up to that statement, anymore. But something about that couple bothered him. Something about how similar they looked to his friend. So even though he nodded along to the Gaang’s idea of going to find a festival, when the time came to actually leave, he gestured to Katara that he’d catch up and watched the group walk away.

Falling back on the things he’d learned as a banished prince, Zuko took an unrushed sip of his tea. He stayed at his table for a little longer, listening to the people around him and keeping an eye on the older couple. Just as his uncle came to bring their bill, Zuko stood. He waked over calmly, and with as little of what Katara called his Fire Lord Walk as possible.

The couple looked up as he approached and from the corner of his eye, Zuko saw his uncle watching him with an arched brow. He settled his attention back on the couple in front of him. “Hello. I’m sorry to bother you, but I overheard you talking about my friend,” he said, pointing back to the now empty table he and the Gaang had been sitting at.

The man shifted, slightly nervous. “We didn’t mean to be rude. Just… Well, the blind girl-“ Zuko winced at that. Toph hated being called that. “Well, she just reminded us of our little girl.” Zuko nodded, noting the pain and sadness that fell over both of their faces. It was the same expression that Uncle wore when he spoke of Lu Ten.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Zuko said, bowing his head respectfully. The couple nodded, then gestured for Zuko to take a seat. “I’m Zuko, by the way. I probably should have started with that.” The couple nodded, again, then the man told him their names: Jae-Sung Kim and his wife, Jung-Hyun. “I hate to ask such a personal question, but… What happened to your daughter?” The couple shared a long look between themselves, before the woman looked away with tears in her eyes. Zuko felt his heart clench in sympathy for the pain he saw in her. “You don’t have to tell me. Your pain is your own.”

But Jae-Sung was already shaking his head. “No. We don’t mind. It- it helps, sometimes. To remind us to hold on.” Zuko furrowed his brows, confused. “Our daughter, Ji-Min, was kidnapped. Twenty years ago, now.” Zuko’s eyes widened at that revelation. So that’s what he meant by taking a rest. They haven’t stopped searching for their daughter.

“She was sick,” Jung-Hyun cut in. “We took her to the hospital. And at first things were fine. She was getting better, but…” The first tear fell and the woman hid her face against her husband’s shoulder as she broke down. Zuko shifted, uncomfortable and wishing there were something he could do to help.

Tears in his eyes, Jae-Sung wrapped his arm around his wife’s trembling shoulders and continued their story. “The nurse started keeping us away from her- not letting us see her as often as before. The doctors were busy- they didn’t care about our concerns. But then one day, we demanded to see our daughter. We were her parents; we had the right to know what was happening with our child.” And Zuko agreed. He could only imagine how he would react if anyone tried to keep him away from Izumi. “But when we reached the nursery…”

“My baby was gone,” Jung-Hyun cried, heartbreak clear in every line of her body and each word that she spoke. “We called the Dai Li. We put up posters and flyers. We searched the city for weeks and then we got passports to go outside the wall. But it was- it was too late,” she sobbed.

Holding his wife close, Zuko watched as the man tried to get his emotions under control. It was a terrible thing to watch. Their pain was so evident. The love they still held for their lost daughter was unmistakable. He couldn’t imagine- he didn’t want to imagine what life would be like if he and Katara lost Izumi. “I’d like to help you.” The Kims seemed as shocked by the words as Zuko was. But he didn’t take them back. He had resources and these people deserved to know what happened to their daughter. “I can look into it- the hospital, the nurses. Maybe they’ll remember. Maybe they’ll talk now that…so much time has passed.”

“You would do that? Why? You just met us,” Jae-Sung said, incredulous.

And it was true. It would take time and resources and it would be hard to keep Katara from getting involved. But for some reason, Zuko couldn’t let this go. Maybe it was the resemblance to Toph making him sentimental. Or maybe it was the new perspective that fatherhood gave him. But whatever the reason, he knew he was going to see this through as far as he could. “Because I’d want someone to do the same for me, if it were my little girl.”

The Kims shared a long, knowing look, then turned back to him. Then Jung-Hyun reached out her hand and held Zuko’s gently. He wasn’t used to being touched so casually by strangers, but he didn’t mind it. Somehow, after this conversation and all the emotions that came with it, they didn’t feel like strangers anymore. “Thank you,” she whispered, tears glistening in her warm green eyes. “Thank you so much.”

Zuko waved his uncle over.

They were going to need more tea.

Zuko was acting weird.

Well, weirder than usual. He had never caught up to them after the teashop. And when the group did finally get back to Uncle’s apartment for dinner, Sparky was so lost in thought that he might as well have been in one of his Council prep meetings. And strangely, she had heard the shuffling of papers, too. Like he was reading a report.

But that had been two days ago. And in that time Zuko had skipped breakfast twice, disappeared during the afternoon more than once, and she had caught him whispering with Katara about something. Although it didn't seem like Sugar Queen knew anything, either. It was weird. And usually, Toph was good with letting people have their privacy, but Zuko wasn’t people,  he was one of her best friends.

So, she cornered him.

“You’re keeping secrets,” she announced as soon as she Earthbended the floor to trap Zuko’s feet.

“Toph, is this really necessary? Can’t we just talk  like normal people?” he sighed. But his relaxed attitude didn’t hide the way his heart rate ticked up or the way he tried to do that foot shuffling thing of his, despite both feet being locked in stone. “And even if I was. Am I not allowed a private life? Maybe I’m planning something for Katara,” he tried.

Toph snorted, “Yeah right. If this were about Sugar Queen you’d have already roped me in and told me all the gross details.” And there was that skipped heartbeat. “So quit stalling and spill. What’s the big secret that’s got you sneaking off and hiding and doing paperwork when we all agreed work was against the rules for this trip?” Zuko let out a long, annoyed sigh and Toph smirked. She knew what that meant. Got him. But instead of secret-spilling victory, she got nothing. Like, literally nothing.

She waited, thinking that he’d do that thing where silence made him nervous so he babbled. But as the seconds ticked into minutes, he just…didn’t. He didn’t say anything. If she couldn’t literally feel him still locked in place and hear his steady breathing, Toph would have thought he somehow snuck away from her. She felt herself getting frustrated the longer Zuko kept quiet. And she wondered just how long he could hold out. Then she remembered- the Blue Spirit didn’t talk. Ever. So basically, he would outlast her. Because there was no way someone wouldn’t want to see the Fire Lord soon, and even she couldn’t hold the head of a nation hostage for long.

“You suck,” she whined, shifting her feet just enough for the stone boots she’d made to sink back into the floor. “And just for that, I’m stealing Jun’s nickname for you. You really are pouty.”

A warm hand settled on her head, ruffling her hair. “Sorry, Toph. But some things, I just can’t tell you. And right now, this is one of them.” He let out another sigh, but this one sounded more sad than anything else. “Maybe I’ll be able to tell you, soon. Things are just…weird right now. And I don’t want to make a big deal out anything before I have all the facts.”

And maybe she hated it a little when he got all reasonable like that. Because she definitely did. It ruined her fun almost every time. “Fine,” she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest in displeasure. “But you’d better not skip anymore Gaang stuff. I’m not missing out on Sparky time for some stupid secret that you won’t even tell me about.” She listened to Zuko chuckle and, though it didn’t make her less annoyed, she did relax a little bit.

“No more skipping stuff. Got it.” He knocked his shoulder into hers lightly and she begrudgingly punched him in the arm- hard. He deserved it. But Zuko just laughed. “I’ll see you at dinner, Toph. Try not to lock any other heads of state in stone, okay?” Then he was gone.

Toph turned, feet and eyes both pointed in the direction the Fire Lord had gone.

I’m gong to figure it out, Sparky. Just you watch.

He didn’t skip anything else for the rest of the week.

Zuko made sure to spend a bit more time with Toph each day, too. Just for good measure. He knew she was curious. And he knew she would try to figure out what he was hiding. Because he had followed up on the information that Jae-Sung and Jung-Hyun had given him. He’d gone back to the hospital that they’d taken Ji-Min to. He’d gone through the admission records for everyone who had come through the hospital that week. And one name had stood out rather glaringly.

Poppy Beifong.

She had come in a few days after Ji-Min was admitted. The records mentioned a fever that wouldn’t go down. But she recovered quickly. And she left the morning that Ji-Min went missing. Nothing out of the ordinary. The only thing that seemed odd was the nurse. She was the same nurse who told Jae-Sung and Jung-Hyun that their daughter was gone. In fact, she had been the only nurse to work with both Poppy and Ji-Min during their illnesses.

So, on the last day of their visit, Zuko found himself back at Ba Sing Se Institute for Wellness. He had been careful to wear Earth Kingdom greens, though they were of very high quality. He wouldn’t use his position as Fire Lord to intimidate anyone, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t put his noble bearing to good use. He was quickly led to a private room where he waited for the nurse, Eunji, and he didn’t wait long.

A soft knock came at the door and then an older woman stepped into the room. She was younger than Zuko had expected- not even to her mid-forties if he guessed correctly. She couldn’t have been much older than seventeen or eighteen when Ji-Min was taken. But he didn’t let his surprise show on his face. Instead, he gestured for her to have a seat. She did, though she seemed more than a little reluctant.

“Are you Eunji?” She nodded, hands twisting nervously where they rested in her lap. Zuko didn’t want her to be nervous. He just wanted the truth of what happened that day. “You cared for a baby- twenty years ago. She was kidnapped from the hospital.” The woman stiffened in her seat, eyes darting towards the door as if looking for an escape. Zuko felt a pit form in his stomach.

“Twenty years is a long time. And I don’t remember any baby going missing,” she said, eyes glued to the floor.

But he could tell she as lying. She wasn’t particularly good at it, and her face gave everything away. Especially her fear. “That’s funny because I looked through the records from that day. You were the nurse caring for the baby. And you were the one who told her parents that she was missing.” Eunji kept her head and eyes lowered.

Zuko tried another approach.

Standing from his seat, he slowly circled the small room. Carefully, so not to draw attention to it, he raised the temperature in the room slightly. The silence that surrounded them was heavy and uncomfortable. Zuko hated it- he hated resorting to these tactics. But they worked. Eunji was already squirming in her seat. Her eyes were darting back and forth between him and the door. He slowed to a stop behind her. “I don’t like being lied to,” he said, voice low and purposefully cold. “So, let’s try again: What do you know about a missing baby, in your care, twenty years ago?”

He stepped back and circled around to stand before Eunji. He leveled her with a cool glare, letting all the authority of a Fire Lord come through in the tilt of his chin and the line of his shoulders. Her hands started shaking and he knew she was cracking. Another tense moment of silence and she broke. “My father was sick!” she cried, “I couldn’t afford his medication. They paid for his care- months’ worth of medicines and food.” She burst into sobs, trying to make herself heard through the tears and her ragged breaths “He was dying! I didn’t see any other way!”

Zuko’s eyes fell shut. He hadn’t wanted this to be the story. He had hoped for something else- for Eunji not to be involved. But she was. And though he could understand her desperation, he couldn’t understand how she could go along with kidnapping a child. “Her parents are still looking for her.” He forced himself to look at the nurse, watching as his words washed over her. “Do you know how much pain you’ve caused? The damage you brought to that family? To a little girl who has lived her entire life in a lie?”

Tears spilled rapidly from Eunji’s eyes as she tried to catch her breath. He watched her and it was like he could see her telling herself whatever story she’d concocted to make things right in her mind. He could see it. “They were rich! She- she had a better life, surely,” she reasoned, still trying to convince herself even after twenty years. “They were Beifongs! Who could take better care of a baby than the Beifong family?

He had told himself he didn’t think it was them. From the very first time he saw that Poppy Beifong had been in the hospital that week, he’d pushed any thoughts of them being responsible away. Because those were Toph’s parents. They loved her. And surely they wouldn’t have resorted to something so cruel and dishonorable. But the thought had always lingered. At night when there was nothing to distract him, Zuko had wondered.

And now he knew.

They hadn’t kept Toph hidden to protect her. They hadn’t been angry when she ran away because she was blind. It had been about them. No one could recognize her if no one knew she existed. No one could take her away from them if she was hidden away. No one could name them as the criminals they were if they kept behind their stone walls and aristocratic aloofness.

And Toph had suffered for their cowardice.

Toph had gone from annoyed to flat out scared.

She would never admit it, of course, but she was. Because Zuko was not acting like Zuko. Not with the Gaang, not with her, not even with Katara. And it was really freaking Toph- and everyone else- out. Because when Zuko got quiet like this, there was no way to predict what was about to happen. And it usually wasn’t good. Last time it had been the New Ozai Society trying to kill him. Before that it had been his secret deal for Aang to kill him. And before that it had been the day he almost left Katara at the altar.

So yeah, she was scared.

The ride back to the Fire Nation was long and full of awkward silence. Katara had tried to lighten the mood, but Toph knew she was even more worried about Zuko. So, instead of letting Katara pretend things were fine, Toph found herself sitting in her room trying to think of what could be making Zuko so sullen. There were more reasons than she liked- and most of them involved serious injury and potential death. She didn’t like thinking about those.

A knock on the door to her room pulled Toph from her thoughts. Sitting up, she called for Katara to come in. “Hey,” the Waterbender said, closing the door softly. Toph raised a hand but didn’t say anything else. “Can I sit down?” Toph nodded. The bed dipped a few seconds later as Katara settled in next to her. “He’s never done this before. Not since our wedding day. He promised he wouldn’t keep me in the dark like that again.”

“That just means it’s really bad. He doesn’t know how to tell us.”

Katara sniffled and Toph reached out, blindly searching for her hand. She slotted their fingers together and waited. “I checked him while he was sleeping. He’s not sick. Or if he is, it’s nothing I learned about from Yugoda. And I know everything with the council- he always opens their letters with me. So, it’s not that. And I can’t think of anything else! Toph, he tells me everything.”

“I know. But if he’s not sick and it’s not the council then maybe that’s good. At least he’s not in any real danger, right?” But she felt Katara shaking her head. And she didn’t really believe what she’d said, either. “This trip sucks. I almost wish I’d just gone back to Gaoling. At least then I’d know why I was being treated like I was delicate and invisible,” she groaned.

“He wanted you to come with us. And not just to meet Izumi. He wanted you with us.” The silence hovered between them again as they both took in this information, trying to make it make sense. “Do you think someone’s trying to start a coup? That he needs you to sort out who to trust like during that first year?” Toph didn’t think so. She’d been at the palace right before Izumi was born- that wasn’t even a year ago. And things had been fine, then. “I just hate how upset he it,” Katara sighed.

And yeah, Toph hated that, too.

“My Lord? Your guests have arrived.”

Zuko looked up from the report he’d been reading. Being gone for a week, plus travel time, meant mountains of paperwork when he returned. It was as if the ministers and secretaries couldn’t do anything without him. And between playing catch up as Fire Lord and making up for the time he’d been away from Izumi, Zuko was exhausted. But his energy came back to him in a rush at his assistant’s words.

Standing up, Zuko straightened his robes and placed his crown back into his topknot. “Did you have them shown to the Golden Parlor like I asked?” Shi nodded. “Good. And are the Beifongs being escorted there as well?” Shi nodded, again. Zuko found himself repeating the gesture. “Then I’ll go get Master Toph. That will be all, Shi, thank you.” The man bowed deeply and retreated, closing the door behind him.

Leaning over his desk, Zuko let out a heavy sigh. He had been trying to decide if this was the right way to do this for days. And even with Toph, the Beifongs and the Kims all here, he still wasn’t sure he was doing the right thing. He was stirring a pot that wasn’t his to stir. This was Toph’s family, the only one she knew. And no matter how broken it was, did Zuko really have the right to interfere with it?

But he thought of Toph and everything he knew about her. She was an Earthbender to her core- facing everything head on and strong enough to weather the harshest storms. If he didn’t tell her and she found out that he’d known, there would be very little he could do to repair the damage. And he couldn’t lose Toph- she was just as much his sister as Azula and Kiyi.

Taking in a deep breath, Zuko forced his nerves to settle. He couldn’t go to Toph with this much anxiety. She would have too many questions. She was already going to have too many questions. But if he were calm things would be at least a little smoother. Pushing away from his desk with his heart beating mostly normally, Zuko strode across the room and into the palace halls. He quickly turned towards the training arena, alert to the sound of Toph’s voice or the heaviness of her footsteps. And his vigilance just barely kept him from walking into the Earthbender as they both rounded a corner at the same time.

“Toph! I was just coming to find you.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. “Yeah, what for? To ignore me some more?” And…he deserved that. His mind had been in a thousand different places recently. And he had been avoiding Toph, even though he’d hated it. “I could have stayed with my parents for that, you know.”

“I know. And I promise I had a reason. But that’s not what I came to find you for, “ he said, trying to stick to the plan he’d come up with. “I want you to listen to something- a conversation. And it’s important that I know if anyone is lying.” Toph looked frustrated, but she nodded anyway. Zuko reached out a hand to rest on her shoulder. “Thanks, Toph.”

She shrugged his hand away and waved for him to start walking, so he did. He led  her into the entertainment wing where dignitaries met for luncheons and teas between meetings. The Golden Parlor was just through the door up ahead, but Zuko stopped at a wall panel a few feet away, hidden behind a tapestry. Sliding the panel out of place, he stepped inside- waiting for Toph to follow before setting the panel back in place. “The wall is made intentionally thin so that spies can hear conversation clearly. And the ground is stone so you should be able to pick up on anything off,” he whispered.

“Whatever. Let’s get this over with.”

Zuko looked down at Toph as she settled into the chair he’d brought earlier. He hated how upset she was. He hated that this had put a wedge between them. And more than that, he was worried. Because he knew Toph would want to know the truth. He knew she would want to hear both sides of the story and judge for herself. And he also knew how much this was going to hurt her. But all he could do was give her the truth. So that’s what he was going to do.

He stepped back into the hall and turned towards the Golden Parlor.

Toph frowned from her hiding place.

She heard as Zuko walked into the room, greeting the two people that were already inside. They had already been sitting when Toph got settled, so she hadn’t been able to try and identify them by their gait. And their voices were vaguely familiar when they greeted Zuko, but Toph couldn’t place why. But she knew the second her parents arrived. She knew the way her mother tended to glide across floors and her father strode as if he owned whatever ground he happened to be walking on at that moment. Their voices were just confirmation when they greeted Zuko.

“May we ask why we were summoned here, Your Highness,” her father droned. If you didn’t know him well, you wouldn’t even hear the annoyance in his tone. But Toph knew him pretty well, so she couldn’t miss it. “We are honored to be in your seat of power, but an explanation would have been nice when we received your invitation.”

“I assure you, I understand how busy you are. I won’t waste your time for very long,” Zuko answered. But there was something in his voice- something Toph wasn’t used to and couldn’t quite name. “But first, introductions. Mr. and Mrs. Kim, I’d like you to meet Lao and Poppy Beifong. Mr. and Mrs. Beifong, this is Jae-Sung and Jung-Hyun Kim.” Toph didn’t recognize the names anymore than she had their voices. “Jae-Sung, I’d like for you to tell Mr. and Mrs. Beifong your story. They have resources that could help you.”

Lie. Why is he lying?

But she didn’t get to think about it for very long. Because the man, Jae-Sing started talking. It was stilted and Toph could hear sadness in his voice. But the story was sad. They had taken their sick daughter to a hospital and instead of her getting better she’d been kidnapped. And not only that, they’d spent the last two decades looking for her. Toph wasn’t the greatest with kids, but she knew what it was like to miss someone you loved- to not know where they were or if they were okay. She couldn’t imagine feeling that for twenty years.

“We just want to find our daughter. We want to know she’s alright. We want her to know we never stopped trying- we never stopped loving her.” The sound of the woman- Jung-Hyun- speaking pulled Toph’s mind back from it’s wandering. And it reminded her to focus. Something about this conversation was important enough for Zuko to ask her to listen in. And no matter how upset she was with him, she wouldn’t let him down.

“That’s…a terrible story,” her dad said, though there was something off about his tone. She felt her mother shift slightly and frowned. “But what- How do you think we could be of any help?” Her dad shifted in his seat, and his feet shuffled the smallest bit- a nervous tick. Why would her dad be nervous?

“I actually did some searching of my own while I was visiting Ba Sing Se,” Zuko said, ignoring her father’s question. “I found hospital records for that week. And I spoke to the nurse who cared for baby Ji-Min that last day.” Again, Toph felt her father’s nervous tick. And again, she felt her mother shifting uncomfortably in her seat. “The nurse’s name was Eunji. Her father was sick- dying. And she couldn’t afford to pay for his medicine.”

Toph tensed, but she didn’t know why. Something about this story just…didn’t feel right.

“But someone offered her money- enough to care for her dying father. All she had to do was give them Ji-Min.” Toph heard the Kims gasp at what Zuko had just revealed. She couldn’t imagine what they were feeling. She didn’t even know this baby and she felt betrayed by the nurse’s actions. “She told me the name of the person who gave her the money. They were wealthy, came from a good family. They’d be able to take care of the child better than her real parents- at least that’s what she told herself.”

That uneasy feeling was back, and stronger with each word Zuko spoke. Toph’s mother was upset- she could feel her heart pounding. And her father- he was angry. She felt him get to his feet, pacing. He only did that when he was worried about a business deal falling through.

“Why are you telling us all this?” Poppy whispered. “It’s a tragedy what happened to these people. My heart goes out to them. But I don’t understand what you want from us,” she finished, voice meek and soft as always.

“But you do understand, don’t you, Mrs. Beifong?” And that one sentence broke the wall that had been keeping Toph in ignorant bliss. That one sentence sent her mind careening into the truth faster than she could ever hope to avoid it. “A one year old girl, happy and healthy. Everything you could have wanted, right?”

Toph listened as her mother broke into tears. “I just wanted to have a baby,” Poppy cried softly.

“Poppy, stop talking. Don’t say another word.”

But for once Toph’s mother didn’t follow her husband’s command. Because she did not stop talking. “The physician said I would never have children. I had accepted it- I had. But then we went to Ba Sing Se. I saw all those poor, dirty, unwanted children. And it wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair. I wanted one so badly and yet I couldn’t have one?”

“Poppy, enough of this madness. Be silent!”

“And then I got sick. I went to that cursed hospital. And I don’t remember how, but I saw her. And she was so beautiful- so full of light and life.” Toph’s heart clenched. It was her. She was talking about her. “She looked up at me with those bright green eyes and I couldn’t stand to leave her behind. You must understand, I couldn’t leave her.” And she wasn’t sure how, but somehow Toph knew her mother wasn’t talking to Zuko. Somehow she knew her mother was speaking those words the Ji-Min’s mother. And how could she be so cruel?

“So, you paid the nurse to give Ji-Min to you,” Zuko concluded, voice sad and angry and a thousand other things Toph couldn’t name.

Her mother sniffled. “It was the only way. She needed us. She need me.”

“No.” Toph stopped breathing. It felt like the entire world stopped breathing. The pain and anger in Jung-Hyun’s voice was devastating and Toph couldn’t breathe with the weight of it suffocating her. “She didn’t need you. She needed her mother. The mother who loved her and searched for her and cried for months- no, years- for her. She needed me!”

Silence rang through the room and reverberated against the walls as Jung-Hyun’s voice faded away. There were tears in Toph’s eyes and her heart was racing in her chest. And she didn’t know what to do. She always knew what to do. It was her thing. It was what made her the best Earthbender in the world- Sifu to the Avatar, creator of Metalbending. So why didn’t she know what to do, now?

“Jung-Hyun,” Zuko’s voice washed over her, clearing some of Toph’s panic. “Do you remember the day we met? At the Jasmine Dragon?” Toph’s brows furrowed in confusion even as she felt the vibrations of Jung-Hyun nodding. “Do you remember what you said? About my blind friend?” Another nod, this time slower and full of anxious energy. “Her name is Toph- Toph Beifong. And she is their only daughter.”

“But…” The man spoke this time, Jae-Sung. And Toph soaked up his voice in a way she hadn’t while he was telling his story. “Ji-Min- she wasn’t blind. She- she wasn’t- She could see. Her favorite color was orange like her favorite fruit.”

Silence. Crushing, devastating, soul-destroying silence.

Then: “What did you do to her?” But Toph barely heard it. The only thing she could hear was Jae-Sung’s words over and over again saying the same thing. ‘She wasn’t blind’ Because if that was true- if that was true… Her favorite color had been orange, but she didn’t remember what orange was. And somehow that hurt more- having known and forgotten. That hurt more than having never known at all.

“It was an accident,” her father- no, Lao- said. Brusquely, defensively. “The carriage turned while we were traveling back home. Toph hit her head. The force caused the defect.” Defect. “We tried to find a Waterbender- their women can heal. But the North Pole was so isolated and everyone knew going to the South would be a waste of time. But we dealt with it.” They ‘dealt with it’. The defect.

That’s all I ever was- the perfect little doll that got broken.

The defect

He couldn’t stand to hear Lao Beifong say another word.

Listening to Poppy had been bad enough, but this? It was emotionless. Wait, no, actually it wasn’t. It was too prideful, and arrogant and entitled to be emotionless. And for a moment it was like stepping back in time. Zuko might as well have been listening to Ozai.

Standing up, Zuko tried to pull his thoughts together. This was not how he had imagined things going. He wasn’t sure what he had imagined, honestly, just that this wasn’t it. But the one thing that he couldn’t wrap his mind around was Toph. She hadn’t been blind. She had been able to see. It was impossible to even imagine and yet it had been true. And she had lost that. Because of selfishness- Lao and Poppy’s selfishness.

And she heard it all.

That thought drew him up short. His eyes darted to the panel that he knew Toph was sitting behind. And suddenly he couldn’t stand the idea of her being trapped in that small dark space dealing with all of this alone. His feet were moving, quick and determined, before the thought was complete. He reached out, ignoring the sounds of confusion coming from the group behind him, and pulled the panel aside.

She looked terrified. She looked heartbroken. And he hated every single thing that had led to this moment- himself included. His stepped into the wall and closed the panel, sealing them in- he knew she wouldn’t want anyone to see her like this. Then he opened his arms and Toph collapsed into them, sobbing against his chest as he held her tight.

“I’m sorry, Toph. I’m so, so sorry,” he whispered, over and over and over again. He didn’t know if she could hear him. He didn’t know what she was thinking or feeling. He didn’t know if she would forgive him when this moment passed. But he knew she needed someone to be with her. He knew he would never forgive himself for putting her through this, even if she forgave him. And he knew that he wasn’t letting go until she did.

“I wasn’t blind,” she sobbed, “I wasn’t blind.”

The only comfort he could give was to hold her tighter.

Toph listened as Imperial Guards led Lao and Poppy onto the airship that would take them back to the Earth Kingdom. She heard the rustle of paper as Zuko handed over a scroll meant for King Kuei. It explained why the Beifongs were no longer welcome in the Fire Nation capitol, as well as a confession letter from the nurse who had helped them with their crime.

Beside her, Katara stood with one arm holding baby Izumi and the other wrapped around Toph’s shoulders. It was nice and safe and Toph was in desperate need of both those thing at the moment. “Are you sure you don’t want to say goodbye? They’re the only parents you’ve ever known- it would make sense to still want to find comfort in them,” Katara whispered.

And maybe she was right, but Toph wasn’t ready to think like that. She shook her head. “I don’t have anything to say. They kept me hidden to protect themselves, they suffocated me when they didn’t even have the right. And nothing either of us say will erase that.” She felt Katara nod. “Besides, it’s not like I’m talking to the Kims, either” she shrugged.

“You could. I think they’d love that.”

They would. Toph knew they would. But she wasn’t ready. She didn’t know how to be anyone but Toph Beifong. And for now, she wasn’t sure she was ready to try and be anyone’s daughter. She’d never been great at it before. The Kims had been searching twenty years for a little girl named Ji-Min whose favorite color was orange and who wasn’t blind. Instead, they’d gotten Toph Beifong, a girl who didn’t know what orange looked like and would never be able to see her true parents faces. That was a lot of disappointment to deal with- on both sides. And she’d had enough parental disappointment to last more than one lifetime.

The sound of Zuko’s footsteps reached Toph seconds before the man himself. “The Kims are going back to Ba Sing Se tomorrow. They felt like maybe it would be best if you came to them- on your own terms.” Toph wasn’t sure she trusted that- they probably just didn’t want her now that they’d met her. But she nodded anyway. “They asked if you would join them for supper tonight, though. They wanted to say goodbye.” She nodded again. Toph could feel Zuko watching her, but she wasn’t going to break down again- once was enough in her book. “I hope you can forgive me one day, Sister.”

Her whole body whipped around, feet pointed straight at Zuko. He’d never called her that before. Sure, she knew he considered her to be another little sister, falling somewhere on the spectrum between Azula’s crazy and Kiyi’s sugar-sweetness. But he had never actually said the word. And then the rest of what he said sunk in. “What do I need to forgive you for? You told me the truth.”

“Not the way I should have. I should have come to you first- as soon as I found out what Lao and Poppy had done. But I didn’t. I kept you in the dark. Then sprang it all on you when you were alone and unprepared.” And yeah, that had sucked. But she wouldn’t have believed it if he’d done even one thing differently. And she had a feeling he knew that, even if he still felt bad about it. “So, I’m sorry. And I hope one day you can forgive me. Because you’re my family and-“ He punched her on the arm. Hard.

She punched him back.

I love you, too, Brother.

It took six months for Toph to visit the Kims in Ba Sing Se.

It took a year for her to stop shaking after each visit.

It took two years for her to accidentally call Jung-Hyun ‘mom’.

It took another three months before she called Jae-Sung ‘dad’.

But somewhere during all those visits she found a family. One like in the plays and stories she’d heard. Somewhere in all those teas, and birthdays, and festivals, Toph found a way to be herself. More than being a Beifong, she learned how to be a Kim, too. And the weirdest, and coolest, and best part of it all? Somewhere along the way the Kims stopped looking for Ji-Min and just saw Toph. And they loved her. Her, the daughter they found, not the one they lost. They loved Toph- for exactly who and what she was.

And it was amazing.

She wasn’t Ji-Min. She would never be Ji-Min. That girl had lived a different life. That girl had never met the badgermoles or ridden a sky bison. That girl had never known bone deep loneliness or the amazing warmth of true, unconditional friendship. And for all that her life might have been easier if she’d never been raised to be Toph Beifong, she wouldn’t trade it. Because Toph Beifong was the greatest Earthbender in the world. She had trained the Avatar and helped end a war. Her big brother was the Fire Lord and her big sister was Fire Lady. And none of that would have happened if she were Ji-Min.

So, yeah, sometimes being blind sucked.

But most times…

Most times it was the best thing that ever happened to her.