Chapter Text
In the Middle Ring of Ba Sing Se, a few blocks from the University of Ba Sing Se, the Middle Ring is home to the trendiest and most ‘aesthetic’ bars and pubs. It’s where university students gather after class to drink and exchange ideas their conservative professors wouldn’t approve of. Some just go there to dance to the music and blow off some steam.
The music from every bar spills into the street. Drunk people come and go as they please. Cheers erupt whenever the DJ drops a beat the crowd loves.
Zuko thought that the noise and alcohol would help drown whatever was going on in his head.
He was wrong.
He called the bartender to close out his tab and walked to his car.
In the parking lot, he saw a sight that almost made him laugh. Some university students were crowding around a girl while leaning on his car. The girl hugged her arms to her chest and was avoiding eye contact with the men.
“If you ride me, I’ll give you a ride in my Maserati.” says one of the guys.
“I really just want to go home,” the girl said while looking down, “please, I have class tomorrow.”
“It’s a Saturday tomorrow,” another guy scoffed, “you didn’t have to lie, baby girl.”
Zuko used his keyfob to unlock the car, catching their attention.
“Miss, are they bothering you? Do you want a ride home?” Zuko said as he walked towards the driver's side.
“Yes please.” the girl said as she hurriedly opened the passenger side door.
The men grunted and hurled insults at the girl, saying that she’s a gold-digging slut and other choice words.
“My dad is a Fire Nation General. You don’t get to steal from me without having any repercussions.” one of the guys said with a smug grin on his face.
“General Huang?” Zuko said in a deadpan tone “or General Zhang? General Cho? It’s General Cho right? You have his eyebrows.”
The guy froze.
“H-how did you…?” He stammered.
“The next time you harass a woman, use your own car.” Zuko leaned casually against the roof. He paused, then straightened. “Also, I’ll personally tell General Cho about your antics at the next General Assembly.”
He got in and sped out of the parking lot, leaving them in the dust.
***
He dropped the girl off at her dorm and drove away without waiting for thanks. He never lingered longer than necessary when it came to things like this.
Zuko hated using his position to intimidate people. He didn’t even like being a prince. The protocols and rules were exhausting.
If there is one place in the world where he can be just him, no titles and rules, it’ll be in her place.
It was a massive estate in the Middle Ring. It screams luxury that doesn’t fit the hustle and bustle of the Middle Ring. By the looks of it, an estate this large and luxurious should belong in the upper ring, near the palace.
Atop the tall gates, a sign for a pottery class and studio can be seen.
Zuko entered the gate as if he belonged there. He walked through the single-storey estate with practiced familiarity until he reached the main living area.
A blind woman sat there, shaping clay with steady hands, molding it to her will as if the earth existed just for her.
He deliberately made his footsteps heavier.
The sound of his footsteps made Toph smile before she even spoke.
“Sparky! You’re late.” Toph said, standing and wiping her hands on her apron.
“There was a situation in the parking lot.” He dropped his things onto the couch, eyes lingering on her hands as she wiped clay onto her apron.
“A bunch of students using your car to flex?” she asked, already walking toward the sink.
“Something like that.” She laughed, the sound echoing warmly through the open room.
Zuko spent so much time in Toph’s studio that her servants joked he had already moved in. Toph only laughed and told them to keep his room clean and make sure he had everything he needed.
They secretly called the estate the Home for Runaway Kids of Influential Parents.
It fit. He was the firstborn son of the Fire Lord. She was the only daughter of the oldest and richest noble house in the Earth Kingdom.
Both of them wanted to run from their names and titles.
Whenever his responsibilities became too much, he came to Ba Sing Se for the quiet of her estate and her company.
The faint sound of the sōzu in the garden can be heard. Filling the comfortable silence between them with a relaxingly faint sound of running water.
“You know, Sparky,” Toph said, curling her legs up on the couch, “I’m thinking of moving my studio.”
Zuko glanced at her. “Where to?”
“Somewhere. Anywhere my parents can’t send suitors to.”
“You know that moving won’t stop them, right?” Zuko said as he looked at his best friend who was trying to take up the smallest place possible in the huge couch in her own house.
“Yeah. Like how you showing up here won’t change that you’re a prince.”
“As long as we live off of their money, we can’t do shit.”
“At least I work. What do you do?” she snickered.
“Goof around in the Middle Ring and embarrass my father, I guess?” Zuko said with a small laugh.
They spent the night drinking Toph’s wine, bantering and laughing while music played softly from her turntable. For a few hours, the world shrank to just the two of them.
Just two people that had so much in common and knew too much about each other.
“Did you know that Suki and Sokka broke up again?” Toph asked, drinking straight from the bottle.
“Aang did not mention anything to me, last time we talked. What happened?” Zuko asked, puzzled about the situation.
Sokka and Suki were the disgustingly passionate couple but their fights could get just as passionate too. They fight hard and love harder.
“Aang thinks you don’t like gossip. As if he’d tell you anything.” She sneered. “Suki says they’re not getting back together this time, but no one believes them.”
They both laughed, neither of them believing Suki’s words.
“Do you think I’ll ever find love like that?” Toph asked quietly.
“You want a relationship where you break up every 2-3 business days?”
She nudged his knee with hers. “Not that part. I mean the kind where you’re burning for someone. That passionate, drawn-to-each-other kind of love.” She gestured with the bottle. Zuko leaned forward quickly and took it from her before it could collide with the lamp
Their hands brushed.
Neither of them commented on it.
“I think you can have that,” he said, taking a sip. “But I think that kind of love is overrated.”
Toph turned toward him fully, curiosity bright on her face.
“I did not expect that from you. I totally thought that you’re all for that type of shit.” Toph said, leaning back on the couch and sitting more relaxed.
“Nah. I think calm love is better.”
“Calm love?” She asked him.
“Yeah. Passion fades. I don’t know how those two kept it up for years.”
Toph leaned back into the couch, shoulder pressing into his arm. She didn’t move away.
“I want the kind of love that makes the rest of the world disappear.”
Zuko paused, looking at her.
“I want the kind of love where you can rest,” he continued. “Where you can be your true self. Where you’re best friends. Where they ground you and see you for who you are.”
He swallowed, voice dropping lower.
“I want someone beautiful who doesn’t know she is. Someone strong and steadfast. Someone who laughs at my jokes and calls me out on my bullshit.”
Toph’s fingers tightened slightly around the fabric of the couch.
“I want someone who looks at me and doesn’t see the prince. Just Zuko.”
Silence settled between them. It lingered longer than either of them expected.
“That’s… oddly specific,” Toph said, the teasing tone not quite reaching her voice. “Do you already have a girl in mind?”
Zuko shifted closer. Close enough that their shoulders fully touched now.
“I do. But she doesn’t see me that way.”
Toph let out a small laugh that sounded thinner than usual. “Oh, Sparky. She must be blind or something to miss what a great guy you are.”
Zuko froze for a moment—then burst out laughing.
“You don’t say.”