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She was trained for this. Begrudgingly born to play this role. Indoctrinated into proper manners from practically before she could walk. Definitely before she could bend. She could handle herself on the happiest day of Zuko's life and not fuck everything up. In spite of feeling ill she could pull off a polite social gathering.
Except she didn't expect to feel so... discarded? So inconsequential and out of place?
Why was she even here?
Zuko announced big news and requested she and Iroh meet him at the palace. Under normal circumstances an invitation like that would be treated urgent, but casual. There was nothing casual about the incredibly pompous ceremony that greeted them. She didn't recognize the woman standing arm in arm with Zuko. But Iroh's excited greeting of "Ursa, my dear!" left her flat-footed.
He found his mom.
After more than ten years of searching, Zuko finally found his mom.
And Toph showed up in dusty clothes having not even bathed for several days because she was too seasick as she and Iroh sailed from the Earth Kingdom to the Fire Nation through a nasty storm. When the Fire Lady introduced herself and gave her a far too familiar hug, she was stiff and barely raised her arms. Who hugged strangers like that? Zuko's mom, from the feel of it, was in the finest of silks. She smelled of peonies. And she was achingly polite.
If she had time to at least bathe she might feel less at odds with everything, but they were all quickly ushered into the Fire Lord's private wing for what turned out to be a family reunion.
Well... Family plus Toph.
When a meal was quickly produced, she couldn't eat much of anything and just pushed the food around her plate, desperately swallowing back her want to vomit all over the nice table setting. Her parent's lessons on manners had her automatically answering basic questions in a soft, polite tone. She kept a neutral expression and moved delicately. But she couldn't even recall what was asked or how she responded. Only that no one seemed upset or offended. She was, after all, a Beifong. She could keep up polite nonsense all day and night.
It was when Zuko, Iroh, and that woman started telling stories from the isolated good memories of their shared past that Toph felt truly like a voyeur. How could she participate when she had no memories of Zuko as a small child, or the famous Lu Ten, or any number of little things that bound those three together? They congregated, and she sat off to the side, picking at her dirty clothes, wishing desperately for a bath. She didn't even notice when Ursa approached and sat next to her on one of Zuko's many fancy sofas.
"Are you feeling well?"
Toph turned her head towards that gentle voice and replied without thinking.
"I am. Thank you, Fire Lady."
She heard the faintest of sighs, the kind a true lady lets out when she thinks she knows best. And then that voice spoke again.
"I haven't been the Fire Lady in a long time. That job is actually currently open. But Iroh told me you were terribly ill on the voyage here, and you hardly ate. Can I bring you something? Tea, perhaps? Some ginger in case you have any lingering nausea?"
Toph felt trapped. She could hear Zuko excitedly recounting the events that lead to his reunion with his mother as Iroh made all the right sounds of encouragement. Neither would come to rescue her, or pull this immaculately proper woman away from her. She did want ginger, but she also wanted to disappear and not be a bother.
"It's very kind of you to ask, but I am well." She should have stopped there. Perhaps her manners were slipping, but before she knew it she added "I wish we'd been warned. I'd have at least washed up before meeting you."
There was a smile in Ursa's voice when she answered, and a soft hand reached out to move some of her hair from her face.
"You don't need apologize. From the sound of it I'm surprised you're even here with us and not in bed recovering. I very much appreciate the effort you've made, I've heard so much about you."
Her manners did slip then.
"You heard what now?"
Ursa laughed, and it sounded like music. No wonder Zuko missed her so much.
"Pretty much the first thing Zuko said after we got reacquainted and I asked him about his life was that I needed to meet you. Everyone else could wait, but I had to meet Toph Beifong."
It was a miracle she wasn't blushing. Or... she didn't think she was. Her friends only pointed that out when her face got warm, not when she was just embarrassed. And her face wasn't warm yet. She did, however, feel an incredible weight on her, like she was put on display in front of the world without any prior notice.
She blinked.
"Why?"
The question was simple enough, and she felt Ursa's weight shift on the cushion next to her as the woman leaned forward to whisper just for her.
"From what he's told me, you're very dear to him."
She was absolutely blushing now.
What was she implying? Why did she sound so amused? As those thoughts ran through Toph's head, Ursa leaned back.
"My son has only the highest praise for you. He asked me to please not judge you by your appearance, especially after a week spent at sea. But he was so excited for us to meet he couldn't wait to arrange this evening. I know it must be hard being the only one here who isn't blood family. But I assure you, with the way Zuko and Iroh look at you, the way they talk about you, you are certainly family to them. And I hope one day you'll officially be family to me, as well."
Before Toph could even process her worlds, before she could analyze what this woman meant, she felt Zuko approach.
"Mom! Are you and Toph getting along?"
He sounded so... young. Even to Toph's ears, he was like a kid seeking approval. This was the Fire Lord! A man who fought in three Agni-Kais and helped rebuild the world after a devastating war. But now? He was as sweet as his mother was polite, and the whole thing made her forget how her cheeks were certainly red.
"I think so. I'm glad to have gotten a better look at her. She's quite pretty, you know?"
If it wouldn't be rude to Zuko, Toph would literally sink into the ground. As an earthbender, she could do it easily. But from her seat she'd have to sink the whole sofa, along with Ursa. And that was out of the question. It did make her feel a little better when Zuko responded. His voice gave away an embarrassment to rival her own.
"I... I know! Of course I know! What.. what kind of question is that?"
"It's nothing to worry yourself over, dear. I've been away for so long that you're just not used to motherly prying."
"Did you ask when they're taking their field trip?"
Toph snapped her head towards Iroh, whose voice was far too jovial for her liking.
"Uncle!"
"What? I'm an old man now. I'd like to see my nephew actually take a lovely lady out for once, it's been years."
"UNCLE!"
Ursa was giggling, undoubtedly holding a hand to her mouth in that polite way women learned. Zuko's heartbeat was through the roof in a way that put ideas into Toph's head that she wasn't sure she was ready for, but didn't hate. Definitely didn't hate.
"Nephew, you must understand that we were all thinking it!"
Toph froze at Iroh's words.
Zuko froze, too.
Ursa laughed outright because apparently her son's discomfort was enough to toss away any decorum. She then stood to comfort him, though Toph couldn't be sure exactly how. Only that her words were soothing and involved assuring him that everything was okay and maybe he should take his uncle's advice.
Wait.
What?
"Uh... Toph?"
Oh no. Zuko was speaking again.
"Yeah?"
"Would you want to ditch this gathering and head out with me?"
Was he actually asking her on a date? In front of Iroh? In front of his long lost mother?
"I... uh. Wait." She stood up a bit too quickly and her stomach turned. That wasn't good, but she could hold her own. "What's happening here? What aren't I getting?"
That soft hand came back to once again adjust her hair, and Toph wondered if, even when relaxed, Ursa could shake her upbringing and stop fussing. But she was a mom. And moms probably did that when they didn't neglect their children. Except she wasn't Ursa's child. Thank the spirits she wasn't Ursa's child.
"Toph, my dear. There's a reason Zuko couldn't stop talking about you. Even as a young boy he wasn't so enamored with anything or anyone as he is with you." Zuko exclaimed Mom! but Ursa paid him no mind. "Now put him out of his misery and either agree to go out or turn him down gently. He's a grown man but he's still my sweet little boy."
Okay. That settled it. Zuko asked her out in front of both Iroh and his long lost mother, at their urging, while she was still tired and a little nauseated and honestly desperate for a bath with her oily hair itching and her clothes a mess.
"While the young lady considers her response, might I also add that she doesn't stop talking about him either?"
Iroh's declaration snapped her out of her haze.
"Hey! You said our conversations were in confidence!"
"I'm tired of confidence like secrets. I want confidence like my nephew landing the woman he's been eying for over a year!"
"UNCLE!"
Zuko's heart rate indicated either a massive health issue, or an incredible amount of awkwardness. And Ursa laughed again.
Toph was starting to like this woman. Even though she was motherly in a way that she didn't quite feel comfortable with, she had no problem laughing at Zuko's misery. And as far as Toph was concerned, that was a good quality for his loved ones. Maybe she wasn't completely ruining the day. Maybe Ursa and Iroh planned this all along. Maybe she and this proper lady could find common ground poking fun at her son.
She turned to Ursa, a smile playing on her face.
"You really want your son, the Fire Lord, Mr Fancypants Royalty, going out with a disaster like me?"
She felt two hands grab one of her own. They were not only soft, but warm.
"I would love for that to happen."
Ursa then pulled her into a hug and whispered into her ear "And I can tell you all the stories from when Zuko was little that he'd never tell on his own. I promise only the best dirt on him for the world's greatest earthbender."
Oh.
Oh, she liked this woman.
They pulled away from each other and Toph, full of herself and sporting a cheeky grin, announced "Watch out, Sparky! You've no idea what you just got yourself into!"
For some reason, Zuko's heartbeat told her he was excited.
"But, uh... can we go out tomorrow? I kinda still want to puke and take a nap."