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Ty Lee has to admit that the wedding ceremony was absolutely lovely. Of course, she’d expect no less for two people who’d helped end a century-long war when they were barely teenagers, but it was still incredible to see people who’d been through so much together seal their love for eternity. She’ll admit that she cried a little bit.
But the tear-inducing part is over, and now is the post-ceremony dinner. Ty Lee’s been trying every dish that passes, but all the main courses are done and it’s only the fried rice and noodles left to fill people up. She’s finished eating, though, and has already made conversation with all the people at her table.
So she flits over to the next table, the table of honor, where Katara and Aang gracefully accept all the heartfelt congratulations while Sokka and Toph try to drink each other under the table and Zuko sighs helplessly. Ty Lee takes a chair between Zuko and Toph and says, "Hey!"
The Fire Lord smiles his grown-up smile and replies, "Hello, Ty Lee."
Toph leans over and grins. "Hey! Acrobat girl! I haven't seen you in forever!" She snorts at her own joke.
Ty Lee can't help but giggle. "Hi, Toph. How are you?"
"Never better," Toph says. "Sokka over here thinks he can hold his liquor better than me. But he's wrong, and he's going to regret this tomorrow."
"They're both going to die of alcohol poisoning if this keeps up," Zuko says to Ty Lee. "Please tell them that."
"Water Tribe men fear no beverage!" Sokka exclaims, though his words come out slightly slurred. He thumps a fist loudly on the table. Katara flinches and hisses, "Sokka, be polite!"
Toph cackles. "He's already wasted," she whispers to Ty Lee. "He just won't admit that he lost to me."
"How are you not drunk?" Ty Lee asks.
"She is," groans Zuko. "She just controls herself better than he does."
"I am a rock!" Toph declares. "And rocks do not get wasted!"
"Of course you are, Toph," Ty Lee says. She touches the other girl gently on the shoulder, realizing that the earth bender is indeed drunk to a certain degree. "How much has she had?" she asks Zuko quietly.
"She and Sokka have gone through three bottles of wine already," Zuko whispers back. "I'm scared."
"Hey!" Toph shouts. "I may be blind, but I'm not deaf!"
"Neither are we," says Zuko. On his other side, Sokka reaches for an unopened bottle of wine, but Zuko grabs it before he can. “Katara,” he hisses. “Control your brother.”
Katara gives him a look of helplessness, gesturing toward the ungodly number of guests queueing up to meet and congratulate her and Aang. Ty Lee finds a waiter and asks him to take the wine bottle away, and Sokka pouts. “What am I supposed to do now?” he asks.
“Wait for your liver to digest all that alcohol,” snaps Zuko.
“Aw, can’t Katara just, like, liquidbend it out of me?” Sokka suggests.
“I think she’s a little busy right now,” says Ty Lee. She looks at Sokka and vaguely remembers a time when she thought he was cute. That was a long time ago, though. He’s grown up now— they both have— and yet there’s still a genuine goofiness to him, one that she lost years ago. She’s not sure what to make of that.
“Sokka, that’s enough,” says Zuko, taking him by the hand and leading him away. “Let’s go outside and take a walk.” He looks at Ty Lee and nods in Toph’s direction, mouthing, “Watch her.”
“Sparky always has to act all responsible,” Toph mutters, crossing her arms. “It’s probably ‘cause he’s a Fire Lord, though.”
“Well, aren’t you pretty responsible too?” says Ty Lee. “I heard you’re in charge of the police force now.”
“Yeah,” Toph replies dismissively. "We metal bend shit and throw bad guys in jail."
"That sounds... fun," Ty Lee says, for lack of a better word.
"Yeah, but the paperwork sucks," Toph complains. "They're always trying to make me sign stuff or fill out forms and I'm like, what the fuck, man, I'm blind!"
Ty Lee makes a sympathetic noise, and Toph releases a grumpy hmph. Trying to fill the silence, Ty Lee says, “You made a really good speech as maid of honor!”
(It had been surprisingly good, coming from Toph. She had a feeling that the blind girl had ad-libbed it, at least partially, but she’d managed to make the guests laugh several times while still maintaining the minimum level of sentiment and nostalgia.)
“Thanks,” mutters Toph, but she manages to make it sound as if Ty Lee’s just insulted her. “Couldn’t really say no to Sugar Queen, savior of the modern world and all that.”
She’s surprised by the bitterness in the earthbender’s voice. “Did you not want to do it?”
Toph shrugs, and Ty Lee suspects that if the other woman was sober she’d be much more closed off. “It’s not that, it’s more like my parents are just. Ugh.”
“What do your parents have to do with the speech?” asks Ty Lee.
“They want me to get married now,” Toph says, scowling. “Once they heard me say nice things about Twinkles and Sweetness getting married they’re all, ‘Oh, Toph, why don’t you marry a nice man, too?’ And I was like, fuck no.”
“Oh,” says Ty Lee, and the air around her suddenly feels very still. She hopes Toph doesn’t notice her suddenly tensing.
But she’s the greatest earthbender in the world. “You okay, circus freak?” asks Toph.
“Yes,” says Ty Lee. Does she know? How could she know?
“What, you scared of a girl who doesn’t wanna get married?”
“No,” says Ty Lee.
“Then what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just…”
“Don’t wanna get married to a man either?” says Toph. She must sense Ty Lee’s shock, because she says, “I know I’m blind, but there are some things even I can see. Like the way you pretty much worshiped Azula.”
Ty Lee bites her lip. This was not the way she envisioned this conversation. Why can’t Fire Lord Zuko come back so they can talk about something else? “I’m not that girl anymore,” she tells Toph. Why is she even bothering to take this conversation seriously? Toph’s probably so wasted she won’t remember anything.
“As in you’re not in love with Azula anymore or you’re not into girls anymore? Because,” and here Toph snorts shamelessly, “I’ve heard some interesting stuff about the Kyoshi Warriors.”
“Toph,” says Ty Lee, wondering not for the first time how she ended up in this conversation. Katara and Aang, the only others at the table, don’t seem to notice; they’re still busy with the seemingly never ending line of guests. She supposes that’s to be expected when you’re the Avatar and a prodigy waterbending master. Can they leave? Zuko’s already taken Sokka out, and she can only imagine what they’re up to by now.
She leans over and whispers to the bride, “Hey, Katara, I think I’m gonna take Toph home.” She nods at the earthbender, who’s laughing almost maniacally.
The waterbender nods, smiling weakly, and mouths Thank you so much. Ty Lee turns to Toph, who cackles, “Ooh, you’re gonna take me home?”
“Toph Beifong, you are very drunk,” Ty Lee sighs, taking her hand to help her up.
“Fuck,” Toph mutters as she stands, “is it just me, or is the floor, like, moving?”
“It’s you. You’re drunk. Come on, let’s go.”
She leads the younger woman carefully outside and walks her toward the hotel nearby that houses nearly half the wedding guests. They pass by Zuko and Sokka kissing on the sidewalk, and Ty Lee suggests, “Why don’t you guys do that in the hotel?” while Toph shouts, “Gay!”
Sokka throws up his middle finger at them, but Zuko hisses, “Sokka, she’s blind.” He breaks away from him, as if he’s only just realized that they’ve been seen. “Sokka, why did we do this outside?”
“Because you just couldn’t resist me,” Sokka says, grinning cheekily. Even in the darkness, Ty Lee can see the Fire Lord’s face redden. Leaving the two behind, she pulls Toph along and brings her into her hotel room, not caring what people might think.
“Go to sleep on your side,” she commands, and Toph complains, “But I’m not tired!”
Ty Lee groans. “Just don’t hurt yourself.”
“Jeez, you’re starting to sound like Sugar Queen,” Toph mutters. She suddenly perks up. “Hey, is this the part where we have sex?”
“No,” says Ty Lee firmly. “You’re drunk. I’m just here to make sure you don’t die.”
“Aw,” Toph whines. “But you brought me home and—”
“So you don’t hurt yourself,” Ty Lee explains patiently.
Toph sighs. “Fuck this, I’m going to sleep,” she declares, flopping onto the large bed.
“Sleep on your side,” Ty Lee reminds her. It’s gross, but at least if she throws up she won’t choke on her own vomit. She hesitates before climbing into bed with the earthbender.
“Hey, circus freak?” says Toph after some silence. “I beat Snoozles at the drinking contest, didn’t I?”
“Definitely,” Ty Lee yawns. “Go to sleep, Toph.”
“Wait, why are you even here?” Toph asks.
“Making sure you don’t die,” Ty Lee repeats.
“But why?”
It takes her a second to realize what she means. She’s asking why Ty cares, why she’s going to this trouble.
And Ty Lee realizes that she’s not entirely sure. She certainly didn’t intend to end up with a very drunk earthbending prodigy— her former enemy, at that— in her bed asking if they can have sex. Maybe it’s because Ty Lee just wants her to be safe, but maybe it’s more than that.
She’s always admired Toph Beifong from afar, the way she doesn’t care about what anyone says about her. She likes her confidence, how she knows who she is and what she wants. Ty Lee’s never been sure of herself— she tried defining herself first by her sisters, then as an acrobat, then by Azula, and now as a Kyoshi Warrior.
“I’m not sure,” she tells her. Then, quietly, she adds, “I think I like you.”
The earthbender makes a noise of acknowledgement. “You should stay longer,” she says. “After the wedding. Stay with me.”
Ty Lee blinks. Is she asking her out? “Sure,” she says.
Toph smiles wide in the darkness. “Good.” She rolls over and is soon snoring loudly.
Ty Lee listens to her for a while before she begins to feel sleepy as well. With Toph’s warm body beside her, she thinks, she could get used to this.