Chapter Text
Toph was drumming her fingers against the surface of her desk as she awaited one of her best detectives — and the single most immense pain in her neck — to arrive at her office. Following the death of her friend, work partner, and deputy chief, she was being pushed by the council to hire internally to fill the now vacant position. Unfortunately for her, this meant that she had virtually no say in selecting who would fill the said position. She’d barely even had a chance to properly mourn the death of her friend and co-worker before the council was pushing their way into the police station to dictate the next steps.
Anyone who knew Toph also knew that she wasn’t one to be pushed around. She took shit from no one, and she would tell them what she thought without solicitation to do so. And of course, she all but sent the whole council to hell and back again for forcing her to do something without wanting to or being remotely ready to do so. For weeks, she did all she could without becoming physically violent, limiting herself to telling the council to fuck off and quit rushing her. Even Aang, who had power over the council in a way, tried to get them to cool it to no avail.
And she was fed up.
It wasn’t until she had a conversation with Sokka, who was strictly prohibited from working with the council on this matter, that she calmed down a bit. He’d told her that she needed someone at her right hand; that while he knew that she could handle everything on her own, it wouldn’t hurt to have someone watching her ass. However, what sold her was him saying that her doing things alone while she was grieving was the last thing Deputy Chief Liang would have wanted.
Much to her dismay, he was right. Liang was the one with the cool head between the two of them, and she wouldn’t have wanted Toph to be out on the field without her ass covered.
As she waited on the former deputy chief’s replacement to decide to show up, she couldn’t help but think of the day Liang died. And the way it happened… Toph wished upon no one.
A few weeks prior, she and a task force they’d formed had barely gotten out with their lives from an impromptu warehouse raid at the very edge of Republic City. The state of her dep’s life was critical due to the amount and grade of the injuries she had sustained.
Toph and about half of her team had been lucky. The other half had been critically injured by the time they were able to get a complete handle on the situation. Organized crime in the city was becoming direr and direr with each passing day since Toph created the metalbending police force, and it seemed as though they had no plans of easing up.
They’d received an anonymous tip from someone about there being some kind of meeting at a warehouse a ways away from where the police station was located. Knowing how much of a threat these people posed, she and her team worked out a plan and took to the warehouse. It was expected that the raid would not be easy; raids never are, but what wasn’t expected was how quickly things would fall apart for them.
Elements and weapons were flying at them, left and right, and despite the defenses that her team was throwing back at the still-nameless gang, they were quickly defeated. Toph could feel the bodies of people she’d worked with from day one hitting the ground and their hearts coming to a stop immediately after.
And it was true that she had taken part in gruesome fights throughout her life, but a very limited amount of those encounters could compare to feeling the warm blood of her partner splattering onto her face and uniform.
From that moment on in the warehouse, she did absolutely everything in her power to put an end to the confrontation while also being sure that the rest of her team made it out alive. She’d lost great people that day, but the loss of the one person on the force that she wholeheartedly trusted with her life really hit her hard.
Realistically, Toph felt responsible for Liang’s death, or at least partially responsible. In her eyes, she could have done more to protect her and save her, but she couldn’t. She didn’t.
So the last thing she wanted was to have to deal with hiring her replacement. She’d never trust anyone the way she trusted Liang, especially not the guy they were practically forcing her to promote.
It wasn’t that he was a bad detective or officer in general. He wasn’t. He was actually one of the best people she had on the force. He just wouldn’t have been her first pick, despite the fact that he would have been next in line for the position anyway.
And she also didn’t like him. Not one bit.
How she’d be able to make do without liking or trusting someone, she didn’t know.
“Chief Beifong,” said one of the two councilmen that had insisted on being present when she presented the new position to the detective. “There’s no need to be nervous. He’ll be here soon.”
The drumming of her fingers against her desk abruptly stopped. “Nervous. Because that’s what I am right now. Not impatient, or frankly, pissed the fuck off because your pick is late to a meeting that was told to him was important.”
When she took a breath before continuing her thought, the man opened his mouth to speak, but she raised her hand and stood up, leaning into her desk. “Now, you either keep your mouth shut, or I’ll eject you and your buddy the fuck out of here. The only thing keeping me from not acting rashly are those extensive conversations I’ve had with your council chairman that have talked me out of doing so. Got it?”
Before he could respond, Toph noticed someone approach her office door, and she huffed, raising her hand at the councilman once again to keep him quiet as she walked over and let him in.
“Councilmen,” said Kanto, addressing the two idiots who were standing in attention next to her desk. Then, he turned to her. “Chief.”
“Detective Kanto,” Toph said curtly, stepping out away from the door frame to allow him entry. Spirits , she could not stand the guy. She was trying hard to not lose it in front of the council members. This was only because she didn’t want to be called unprofessional in her work environment, despite having snapped at most, if not all, of the council members throughout her time as chief of police. “Please, take a seat.”
The detective slowly walked over to the chairs set in front of her desk, and she childishly hoped that whichever one he sat on broke as soon as he put weight on it.
Unfortunately, it did not. So much for her daily dose of entertainment.
“So let’s cut to the chase here, Chief,” he demanded smugly, making her blood boil. “What did you need to see me so urgently about? And not that I don’t always enjoy our little chats, but you need to know that I have a very busy schedule, so I’d appreciate it if this was made to be a quick visit.”
Swallowing the great desire she had of burying him within the grounds beneath the precinct, Toph cleared her throat and sat behind her desk. “Against my better judgment, you are hereby promoted to deputy chief of police.”
Kanto was stunned into silence for a moment, and she relished those few seconds. “I— you— huh ? Me? Why me? You’re not— me ?”
“I didn’t stutter, did I?” she replied dryly, turning her head to the side slightly to crack her neck. “Your ascension is effective immediately, and those two idiots are here to make things official with paperwork if you’re… ready to accept the position. You can, of course, say no, if this isn’t something you want.”
The fact was that the last thing she wanted was to have to work with Kanto. From the moment she met the guy, he was a literal pain in her ass, and she did everything she could to stay away from him. And while it was true that he was a talented detective who had achieved much more in a few years than what many of the other people on the force had in more time, he had an edge to him that she did not like one bit. It was something in the way he carried himself and directed himself toward others that irked her.
He was also a wise-ass, which, while it was an admirable quality on some like herself, was not one on him.
Most of the conversations Toph’d had with him — and those were enough to count on one hand — ended with her telling him to shut up and get back to work. She really couldn’t put her finger on when exactly she’d decided that she didn’t like him, but she was undoubtedly aware of the fact that he knew that she didn’t like him. He enjoyed every moment he had to fuck with her, and she couldn’t stand it. Or him, for that matter.
“Wouldn’t you love that?” he retorted with a scoff. The chair he was sitting in creaked, indicating movement. What he said next was directed to the councilmen. “Where do I sign?”
“Uh-huh, look,” Sokka said after listening to Toph ramble on about how dismayed she was at the whole deputy chief situation for the better part of an hour. “It can’t be that bad, okay? You’re just— you’re making a big deal out of nothing here.”
Toph moved her head a fraction of an inch toward her best friend and glared in his direction. Judging by the abrupt change in his heartbeat, she had been spot on in terms of accuracy. “Am I? How much would you like to work with someone you hate?”
He scoffed, swallowing the rest of the drink he’d been nursing during their conversation. “Do you think I don’t do that already with those jackasses in City Hall? I hate them, and I’m sure they’re not the biggest fans of mine, either. But I deal with it because I have a job to do. So maybe — and this is just a little suggestion for you from the wise — you should try to do the same because your job is pretty important, Toph.”
“I get that. I do. But I just— I can’t stand him. I’ve never disliked someone so fucking much, ever,” Toph said, shoving a handful of bar peanuts into her mouth. “And that’s saying something because I don’t like a lot of people. Starting with Aang’s wife.”
“Toph,” Sokka howled, throwing a balled-up napkin at her, making her snort. “That’s just— you’re horrible. And she’s not that bad.”
She rolled her eyes. She really was that bad. On Ji has not changed much since they were kids; she was way too nice in a manner that was borderline suspicious. But On Ji and the avatar seemed like a match made in heaven. It didn’t mean Toph had to like her. “Right. She’s worse. But that’s not the point; the point is that I can’t deal with Kanto without wanting to eject him straight to the Dragon Catacombs in the Fire Nation.”
“There could be worse fates.”
“If you happen to think of some, send them my way,” she said. “I could use some suggestions at this point. I also have my ways of disposing of a body.”
“I don’t want to— don’t elaborate on that,” he guffawed, then leaned into the table they were sitting at. “Listen to me.”
“Do I have to?”
“ Toph .”
“What?”
“You can deal with him,” he pointed. “You can deal with him, and you’ll probably end up liking him. Besides, you haven’t even started working with him at that level. You’ve only ever, what? Supervised his cases? Been there to oversee and act as a last resort if he needed it? You two working together will be a great chance for you to see what he’s made of. And you said he’s one of your top detectives, right?”
She gave him one short nod.
“Okay, then. You’re nothing if not professional and realistic,” he said. “Well, at least when it comes to work because that’s questionable otherwise.”
Toph bit her cheek to not laugh but failed and stomped the ground to nudge Sokka in the leg with the earth. “I’m starting to dislike you .”
“Sure, you are. But in all seriousness, Toph, I’m sure it’s not as bad as you’re making it. It can’t be. You barely even know the guy, so you owe him an opportunity to prove himself as a person.”
Toph squirmed in her seat, knowing he was right. She didn’t know Kanto, but the few moments she had had with him weren’t the most pleasurable. Even when they were working on a case, he would be obnoxiously smug in a way that she just could not stand.
From a young age, Toph knew that she had to work for things to get them done and gain people’s respect, so watching people sit back and relax while others took on their weight sickened her. This was something she saw in Kanto, but she could tell in the way he carried himself and expressed himself that showed overconfidence. Of course, she knew that she wasn’t one to talk, considering how she carried herself, but he was… something else. It took everything she had within her to not absolutely snap at him and fire the hell out of him because he truly was good at what he did.
It really annoyed her.
When she heard him cough, Toph realized that she hadn’t yet responded to Sokka, so she said, “Since when are you an optimist? You’re starting to sound more and more like your sister every day. It’s unsettling.”
He grimaced. “Don’t let her hear you say that. She wouldn’t let me hear the end of it.”
“How is Sugar Queen? I haven’t heard from her in a while.”
“She’s fine,” Sokka responded, waving over at the bartender to prepare another round of drinks for them. “She’s busy being a fire lady and healer and whatever else she does. She has no time for us common folk anymore. It’s unfortunate.”
Toph’s smile widened at that. She loved that her two friends finally came around to admitting their feelings for each other and marrying some years prior. The best thing that could have happened to both of them was coming together because they were so miserable as they tried to hide it for so long. It was only a matter of time for those two. They just made sense.
It was nice to know that Katara was all the way happy; same with Zuko.
“Leave them alone,” Toph defended as she gladly welcomed the fresh round of drinks that was just set on their table. “I bet she’s stopped asking you when you’re going to settle down.”
Sokka exaggeratedly laughed. “That’s a funny joke, actually.”
“Is it?”
“She’s gotten so much worse since she got married,” he said, then his voice went up a pitch to imitate his sister. “‘Sokka, you need to find a wife,’ ‘Sokka, you’re not getting any younger,’ ‘Sokka, when are you going to give me a biological niece or nephew.’ Her lines are becoming predictable.”
She snorted. “So when are you going to settle down, Snoozles? You’re not getting any younger, you know.”
There was some silence, then he leered. “Now I know what you mean when you say you don’t like Detective Kanto.”
“ Deputy Chief Kanto, now,” she drawled sarcastically. “And thanks, by the way, I’d almost forgotten about that for a second.”
“You two need to figure your shit out,” Sokka said with a sigh as he slammed down his drink. “Because I pity the city if the two of you don’t get yourselves worked out and work together.”
For the rest of the night, Toph drank her woes away with her best friend, trying to forget about the fact that she was about to A) embark on a journey with someone she did not want to do it with and B) do it while still affected by the death of her partner.
Spirits , Liang. What would she have to say about all of this? She’d probably tell Toph that it’s something that had to happen eventually, and while it was not something she necessarily welcomed, she would have to make nice with the situation, no matter how abhorrent she found it. And Toph also knew that if the roles were reversed, Liang would have probably felt the same way, but she would have pushed herself to make things work for the greater good of the force and the city.
But then again, everyone loved Liang.
She had nothing to worry about in terms of making enemies at the station because she was well-liked. However, she also, for some reason, got on well with Kanto, which terribly irked Toph.
“He’s a good guy,” Liang once said with a shrug and a smug smirk. “You’d get along with him if you gave him a chance. He’s a hoot.”
Toph rolled her eyes and groaned. “Yeah. I’m fine; thanks for the suggestion, though.”
“I think you’d get along so well that—”
“ Don’t you say it,” Toph had pointed at her. “I don’t want to have to explain why you’re not at work tomorrow.”
Liang laughed loudly, clutching her stomach. “Alright, alright, but don’t come to me when you wake up in his bed one fateful morning and regret all the shit you talked about him.”
“You sure you don’t want to be the one in that position?” Toph asked with a smirk of her own.
“Nah, I wouldn’t do that to a friend.”
“Get out. Out of my office, you bitch.”
Liang let out another loud laugh as she approached the door to exit Toph’s office. “Love ya too, Beifong!”
Spirits — Toph really missed her.
The following day, Toph woke up with a faint headache, and she had a sneaking suspicion that it had nothing to do with her night of drinking. Begrudgingly kicking off her bedsheets, she groaned as she sat up and forced herself to stand.
Though she knew it was highly unethical, as she got ready for work, she thought about how she could very likely get rid of Kanto if she claimed insubordination. If he got on her nerves on a day that she was particularly moody, she would most definitely fire his ass without a hint of hesitation. And it was true that the council would want to storm her office, but she’d be waiting for them with open arms and a big “fuck you” as she chewed on the jennamite she saved for special occasions.
But Liang’s voice echoed in her head. “Give him a chance; quit being stubborn.”
Easier said than done, Liang. Easier said than done .
Still, Toph decided to humor her late friend and play nice until she couldn’t do it anymore. Everyone she cared about was telling her that working with Kanto wouldn’t be that bad, so she was going to hang onto that. She actually enjoyed her job and helping people and doing what she could to keep those in the city protected; working closely with someone she wasn’t a fan of was not going to ruin that for her. So she took a breath, shrugged on her armor after cleaning herself up, and shoved some jerky into her mouth on her way out of her apartment, deciding to make the best of the situation.
Very out of character for her, frankly, but no matter how unsettling it was to her, she felt like she owed it to her friend to try.
The morning air was cold when she stepped out into the street as it always was at the hour she set off for work. It was true that Toph loved her sleep, but she loved being the first one at the station in the morning even more. The few moments alone gave her time to get settled in and get her day started without anyone being there to disturb her. There was usually a handful of people — if that — at the station who had been working the night shift, but they never bothered her unless it was absolutely necessary.
Just the way she liked it.
But that morning as she neared her office door, there was one more person at the station at whatever hour of dawn it was and their heartbeat was just familiar enough to sour her mood.
It also smelled of baked goods, which she genuinely did not mind.
Unceremoniously, Toph pushed open the door leading into her office and slammed it behind her, tossing her possessions onto the couch to the left of her and turned toward Kanto, who was standing quietly by the window.
“Why are you here?” Toph grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t recall agreeing to share an office space.”
Kanto tittered, taking a few steps toward her, mimicking her stance. “Good morning to you, too, Chief. Fancy seeing you here.”
“You haven’t answered my question.”
“Can’t a newly-appointed deputy chief stop by to see his chief in the A.M? Even got you breakfast to attempt to get on your good side,” he said as the smell of the food she’d noticed earlier entered her nose again. She felt him lean toward her slightly. “Is it working?”
Food really was the way into Toph’s good graces, but she couldn’t let him know that just yet, so she took another step in his direction and said, “Listen here, Hotshot—”
“Wha— Hotshot?”
“ Hotshot ,” she repeated, then jabbed a finger into his chest. “What we’re not going to do is try to buy me with various breakfast foods to get ahead here. It’s not going to work. It won’t. So if I were you, I’d start with staying the hell out of my way while we acclimate to whatever our new situation is going to become. Got it?”
“I don’t think I did,” Kanto jeered. “Can you say it again slower?”
“Out.”
“I’m going, I’m going,” he laughed, his hands up above his shoulders in defense. She had to admit that she almost laughed. Almost . “We still have to meet up later so we can get things settled. I’d really like to know what I’m getting myself into. Contrary to popular belief, I want to do well with this position knowing the legacy Liang left behind.”
Before she could find the words to respond, Kanto had slipped out of the office. “Fuck,” she whispered to herself as she walked over to her desk chair and sat. “He really isn’t that bad, huh?”
The breakfast he’d brought in was sitting on her desk right in front of her, so she reached over to the takeaway bag and pulled out a warm buttered bread roll, bringing it to her nose for a long sniff. “Not bad at all.”
But he couldn’t know that.
Toph broke apart the roll and munched on it as she worked on her morning duties, which involved listening to the recordings of the cases she had to deal with that day. Her secretary, Jiaying, always made sure to get relevant paperwork transferred to audio files and to always leave it on her desk for the next morning to make things easier for Toph.
She got through her tasks fairly easily in the morning. There wasn’t much to do other than sit with Jiaying to respond to letters and memos she’d received during the week after she finished listening to her briefs. Most of what she needed to have done by the afternoon was completed and it was thankfully a slow enough day. Nothing emergent to tend to, nothing major to report. The only things of substance she had to do involved checking in on the students in her police academy and sifting through council meeting minutes.
She wasn’t looking forward to the last bit.
Toph also had to inform her officers that they had to attend an important meeting regarding a change in leadership.
She wasn’t exactly looking forward to that part either.
When the time came for her meeting, though, Toph presented herself to her officers as stoic as always, and after Kanto quietly walked into the room, she simply pointed at him and said, “Meet your new deputy chief.”
There were surprised murmurs exchanged throughout the conference room, which she allowed for a fleeting moment. “I am just as surprised as you are, but I expect you all to treat him the way you treat me, the way you treated Liang — with the utmost respect. That or I send you packing. Got it?”
Toph gave some stern closing remarks and told them all to have a good night. And if they had anything to tell her or contest, they should come straight to her rather than do what she expected and run their mouths before coming to her.
After they all filtered out of the room, she and Kanto were the only ones that remained.
“What?” Toph asked, a questioning eyebrow raised, her arms crossed over her chest.
“Thanks for having my back there, Chief. Means a lot to know you’ll send people packing if they mess with me.”
“Did you need something, Deputy?”
He gave a sardonic chuckle. “Perhaps.”
She rolled her eyes and started for the door. “Walk and talk. What do you want?”
“Uh, right,” Kanto said, following her out of the room and closing the door behind him. “I just wanted to see if you were still willing to have a chat with me about the, um, position? I kind of don’t want to screw this up.”
“I’m never willing to have a chat with you,” Toph said, a cynical smirk creeping onto her face. For a minute, she was glad he was trailing behind her so he couldn’t see that she slightly enjoyed messing with him. “But I’ll oblige.”
“Your office? In ten?”
“Whatever.”
“Is that a yes?”
She stopped in her tracks and turned toward him right when he almost bumped into her. She could feel his breath against her forehead so she cleared her throat and took a step back. “Ten minutes.”
With that, she turned on her heel and continued her walk over to her office, letting Jiaying know that she would be in a meeting with the deputy chief for an indefinite amount of time and that if she wanted to head home early, she could. Her secretary was a mother of four and Toph always did what she could to let her off the hook early. Jiaying was one of the most hardworking and resilient people she knew, especially because she constantly dealt with Toph’s moods and workload. Too few people could do that and Jiaying took it with a grain of salt.
Upon entering her office, Toph went straight for her desk, sat down, and opened one of the drawers at her side to pull out a glass and one of the four bottles of fire whiskey she kept hidden away. The day hadn’t been heavy, but she sure as hell felt like she needed a drink before meeting with Kanto.
She thought about Liang when she finished her first glass and ran her finger over the rim. Sadly, she sighed, missing her friend and thinking about how much easier things would be with her around. Nothing would have been changed if she were around and Toph wouldn’t have to deal with the aftermath of her death and the death of so many other people she valued.
In part, this was one of the reasons why she had chosen against speaking at Liang and her other officers’ funerals. It would have made things way too real for her. The services she had attended had been made better by numbing effects of alcohol, but she couldn’t really recur to alcohol if she’d had to deliver heartfelt speeches.
She didn’t want to have to individually honor her fallen officers, she didn’t want to have to take the podium and talk about the people she couldn’t protect. All she wanted was for things to not have happened the way they did. She missed her friends and co-workers and the one person she wanted at her side right then, but that wouldn’t be happening. Not anymore.
Perhaps, she thought, she could make herself a promise to speak at the one-year anniversary memorial service she was meant to put together… perhaps it would hurt less so in a year’s time.
Just as she sighed and was about to pour herself another glass of her drink, Toph felt Kanto’s footsteps closing in on her office, so she put the whiskey bottle and glass away in haste. But not before taking a swig straight from the bottle for good measure.
Before he even walked in, Toph could smell something mouthwatering on the other side of the door, and when he finally entered her office, the scent of the dinner he carried hit her full on.
She couldn’t help the next comment out of her mouth. “You asked for ten minutes to get food?”
“Couldn’t sit and talk about work with an empty stomach,” Kanto replied, pulling out the chair in front of her desk and setting the large bag of takeout on it. He pulled out aluminum plates full of Kwong’s dinner. “Figured you’d want a bite too.”
“I recall telling you that I will not be bought with food, Hotshot,” Toph quipped, laying her legs on her desk and crossing them at the ankles. “I haven’t changed my mind.”
“I guess you can just experience me eating if that makes you feel better, although I find that that might not be as fun as doing the eating.”
She huffed and reached over to grab a plateful of food and ignored his sly snicker. Prying the top off of the plate, she sunk a plastic fork into whatever it was and shoved a forkful into her mouth. Toph immediately recognized the taste of her favorite lemon-glazed chicken and rice and squinted her eyes in Kanto’s direction before swallowing.
“Who did you talk to about this?”
“Hm?” he hummed, as he chewed on his own meal. “Oh, uh, the chef over there knew what you ordered because you’re a regular there, apparently. I’ve learned a lot about Chief Beifong today.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere with me.”
“We both know that’s a lie.”
“That might be true when it comes to anyone else,” Toph admitted. She really did love her compliments and if she could roll around in them, she would. However, she countered, “But not when it comes to you, Hotshot. Never when it comes to you.”
“Oh, how I love to be your only exception.”
She bit back a laugh and pursed her lips, opening a drawer in her desk and pulling out a pad and pen. She slid both over to him. “You’re going to want to write this down.”
“What am I writing down?”
Toph rolled her eyes. “What are you here for?”
“Oh,” he said sheepishly. “But we’re eating.”
“And? The less time I spend with you right now, the better it’ll be for my mental sanity.”
“Ouch.”
“Problem?”
“None at all,” Kanto said, then cleared his throat. “Actually, yes.”
Toph scowled, surprised at his answer, then raised an eyebrow at him in question. She set a leg down on the ground to feel his reactions. “And that is?”
“What’s with you? Why don’t you like me?”
His heart was beating at a mile per minute and she was slightly concerned that she might have ended up as a witness to a heart attack. Nevertheless, she remained stonefaced. “It’s not personal.”
Yes, it is , said a voice eerily similar to Liang’s in the back of her mind.
“It sure seems that way.”
Not wanting to get into the conversation because she really couldn’t think of a concrete answer she could give him other than ‘I just don’t,’ she shook her head and said, “How about you forget about me liking you or not and we get to work. I think that would be grand.”
The tension that had not been in the room when he entered crept upon them and it kind of bothered her. Still, the two of them spoke about what the job took and what to expect from the job, and whatever else she needed to cover in order for him to feel like he was ready to take on the position. He was surprisingly compliant and not annoying, in Toph’s opinion, and that was all she could ask for, right?
It had been about an hour or so when she finished speaking to him and answering his questions. His pad, according to him, was full from corner to corner, and she was silently happy to hear that he had opted to take notes. She couldn’t have him asking her stupid questions when she didn’t have time for it, especially on the field — though, deep down, she knew he wouldn’t ask her anything stupid. He’d been on the job for a while and knew what he was doing.
Not that she’d ever tell him that.
Three weeks later, Toph decided that she was going to pay Katara and Zuko a visit during the weekend; she had a little bit of time on her hands. She also hadn’t complained about her situation to them yet, and she believed that they deserved an earful.
It’d been a difficult few weeks. Not because of her responsibilities or her cases or anything of the sort, but because she had to deal with Kanto and his crap more often than she would have if he had not been promoted. She snapped at him various times in front of her officers and he just took it as a joke. While she would have commended that in any other setting, it’s not the way she would want to be treated in front of her subordinates.
To counter that, though, he would show up after his shifts at her office with dinner and questions about the position. He would constantly ask her about what Liang would do in this case or where her head was at for the next. They talked about strategies and rules and regulations, and much to her dismay, Toph could see how much he cared about the job.
In spite of that, it didn’t make working with him much easier. Never that.
To say she was annoyed was an understatement. And this is exactly what she told Katara when Toph had gained her footing after disembarking from the airship she had to board for her trip. Despite the number of times she’d been forced to travel by airship, she still could not get used to the feeling of being on one of those contraptions. Because of her first experience on one, she was always rather tense when she boarded an airship, so much so that she would usually damage the ship to some degree.
She once broke through six armrests accidentally.
What brought her solace, however, was that at least she wasn’t traveling to the Fire Nation via ship ride. That would have been rough.
When she was finally on solid ground, she immediately noticed something different in Katara, and unless she mysteriously figured out how to grow another heart in that little chest of hers, there was some big news she had to share. Toph kept it to herself for the moment, though; it was a good wild card for when things got too personal, which they would be if she knew Katara well.
As Toph complained about Kanto to one of her closest friends, she didn’t notice the way Katara was smirking or the way she keenly raised her eyebrows at her. If she had, she would have told her friend to fuck off and to quit making stupid and unfounded assumptions about the feelings she had about her colleague.
Still, Katara wasn’t one who kept her feelings to herself, especially when she had the chance to meddle.
So as they caught up by the turtle duck pond and Toph had finally finished bewailing, Katara asked, “So what is it that you don’t like about him exactly?”
“Are you serious, Sugar Queen?” Toph groaned, slumping against the large tree trunk behind her. “I literally just told you.”
Katara hummed skeptically. “Hm, no. Not really. You just kept saying that you don’t like him and that he’s a nuisance, and that he bought you food—”
“To get on my good side, Katara.”
“Oh, that’s— what a nightmare that is.”
Toph shot her a glare. “What do you know about all of this? Spirits, I just wanted to vent. Can’t you ever just, I don’t know, listen instead of weighing in?”
Katara raised her hands up in defense. “Most definitely, but I choose not to.”
“Great.”
“I actually think you like him, you just don’t want to like him.”
“I cannot stand him, actually.”
“I beg to differ.”
“Who asked?”
“No one.”
“Exactly.”
Katara huffed and leaned against the trunk next to Toph, who was wearing a deeply sour expression and had her arms crossed over her chest. To Katara, her friend looked like a grumpy child who’d just been told they were on a timeout. “Why can’t you just admit that you don’t actually hate him? It would make both of your lives so much easier.”
At that, Toph decided it was time to use her wild card and turned her head toward Katara, then nodded at her stomach. “When were you going to tell me I’m going to be an aunt?”
“I—” Katara stammered for a moment and shifted in place. “I’m— I just— I wasn’t sure.”
“You are,” Toph replied, her voice softer than it had been. “I noticed as soon as I got off the airship.”
Katara sighed shakily and laid her head on Toph’s shoulder. The police chief didn’t know what to do other than lay a somewhat comforting hand on her friend’s thigh and awkwardly pat.
“Should I tell Zuko?”
“I don’t see why not. He is your husband unless I’m missing something.”
“We haven’t talked about kids,” Katara admitted, not moving out of her position. “I mean, of course we have, but we didn’t talk about when we would have them. But we always thought it’d be a possibility for us eventually, especially because of the royal line.”
Toph bit her cheek, trying to find the right words that struck a balance between sensitive and not-awkward. “Zuko… will be fine. And you’ll be a great mother.”
There was a weight lifted off Katara’s shoulders and all the tension Toph could feel radiating from her disappeared. “Thanks, Toph.”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Don’t go asking me to be a guardparent anytime soon. I’m not ready for that conversation.”
There was a fit of giggles, a beat of silence, then Katara sat up. “So back to your thing.”
“Uh-huh, and that’s my cue. Where’s Sparky?”
Katara grabbed her wrist gently before Toph got up. “Fine. Fine. I’ll leave it alone.”
“Thank you.”
“But really, Toph. He can’t be that bad.”
Toph let out an exasperated sigh, but remained seated this time, leaning her head against the tree trunk and closing her eyes, focusing on the wind hitting her face. Her hair was tickling her nose but she didn’t care enough to move it. The two of them had relaxed enough that they were slowly but surely drifting off to sleep.
When she noticed that Katara’s breathing had steadied and her heart rate had slowed, Toph sighed, laying her head on Katara’s, and said, “No. He’s really not.”