Chapter Text
Being a Fire Lord isn't as exciting as you might think.
Being a Fire Lord's friend isn't as exciting as it might seem, either.
“I don't have time now,” Zuko speaks up when Toph sits down across from him. “I have a meeting with Earth Kingdom dignitaries in an hour, Toph. If I don't prepare everything, then-”
“Don't exaggerate, Sparky,” Toph smiles at him. “You will be talking about the same border again for the umpteenth time. And once again you will not come to an agreement.”
“I know,” mutters Zuko. “I'm beginning to have a theory that they are doing this on purpose. I'd like to finally set this border, but their demands are unacceptable. I can't give them that much back!”
You can't hear the exasperation in his voice that was present during the first talks about the border. No, now it's more fatigue.
(“In my opinion, they do it on purpose,” Sokka said the day before. Toph was lucky to have met him. Although Sokka is the Ambassador of his tribe, he is not always in Fire Nation. “You know, they want to keep the conflict going. That gives them a reason to increase spending on armaments. Not everyone fully trusts that the Fire Nation will just back down. There are those who think this is just a way to distract us from a new attack.”)
“Maybe you should try talking to someone else?” Toph suggests.
A servant brings them tea. Toph listens to her heartbeat. Everything is fine. It doesn't look like it's poisoned.
“Hey,” Toph speaks up. “Is there poison in this?”
“Of course there isn't.”
Truth.
Toph nods with satisfaction. They have already faced several attempts on Zuko's life recently. And okay, they are no longer as many as at the very beginning of his regime, but the situation is still not fully under control.
One would think that after five years they would finally give him a break.
“Thanks,” says Zuko when the maid moves away.
“No problem, Sparky. What doesn't one do for a friend?” Toph smiles at him, reaching for her tea. Huh. Interesting taste.
“Sorry,” Zuko is clearly not in the mood to smile. “It shouldn't come to such a situation that you have to pay attention to it. And in my own palace.”
Right.
The last five years have not been easy, especially for him. Toph was only twelve years old at the time, but even she knew that stopping a hundred-year war would not be a simple task, especially for an exiled prince who did not have a lot of followers and who most of the time was not considered a real candidate for the throne.
Toph helped as much as she could. But there were limits to how much an outsider could help.
It wasn't easy. Toph knows that at least a few times they stood on the brink of another war. Aang had to react several times. Sokka and Katara's father, Hakoda, reacted. Iroh reacted by acting in the shadows and pulling his strings - oh, also the man is not just a gentle uncle who loves tea and good food. Iroh may have retired, but Toph is absolutely convinced that Zuko still has the throne only because he gained the support of his Uncle.
But they survived.
They made it through.
“It's okay,” Toph says, leaning over to her friend. “So, what exactly are you arguing about this time? Maybe you could have managed to come to some sort of agreement?”
“We would have reached an agreement, if not for the fact that those there insist on their ultimatum. They don't even want to think about changing anything. This is the twelfth meeting in three months and we're still in the same place we were five years ago when I first started talking to them about this.”
“Perhaps I should talk to them?” Toph suggests. “I could scare them a bit.”
“And risk them concluding that I sent an assassin on them and then they declared war on me? No, thanks. But I appreciate the suggestion,” Zuko takes a sip of tea, as if in thought.
The rustling of paper can be heard. He is probably sitting over the same map again. One of many maps.
(“I'm telling you, Toph, they do it on purpose,” Sokka said. “Toph, I have seen these maps. Fire Nation has prepared twenty different proposals, half of which are unfavorable to them. And Earth Kingdom doesn't want to agree to it anyway.”)
“Then maybe you should just occupy the border by force?” Toph suggests.
“The moment I do that, I'll lose not only the trust of Earth Kingdom, but also half of the alliances I've managed to gain. And while I don't think that would put us back in a state of war - no one wants war at the moment, Toph, I feel that this would only put me in a worse position. Huh. This tea has an interesting flavor.”
“I thought the same thing,” agrees Toph. “Sparky, why don't you put down that map for a while? You stare at it as if you're about to burn it.”
Zuko doesn't fall for her blind jokes. Pity.
“If I were able to get rid of this problem by burning the map, I would happily do so.”
“Should I call up Aang? He'd probably be happy to help.”
“I swear, if this conversation ends in another stalemate again, I think we'll really have to call him. This situation can't drag on forever. If it continues... then...”
Toph blinks her eyes.
Zuko's voice sounds as if from afar. Toph's head begins to fall downward. And even lower.
Somewhere nearby there is a rumbling sound, as if someone has fallen to the ground. She? Or maybe Zuko?
Toph has no idea.
I knew something was wrong with that tea, she thinks for a moment before her body stops listening to her.
She just hopes that someone will figure out soon enough what happened.
Toph wakes up.
She wakes up in the dark, as she always does. There are also sounds.
And Aang.
Aang should not be here.
Last time, Aang was somewhere between one Air Temple and another. Toph was supposed to help him restore one of them - though Toph has lost count of which one, exactly. For the past five years, Aang has had problems when it comes to his priorities. He jumps from one project to another.
And while this is cute - the boy clearly wants to make himself useful, wants to do something - someone should tell him about the fact that he doesn't have to fix the whole world. That he can give himself a break.
Instead, Aang is doing so much - restoring Air Temples, ensuring good relations between all the nations, helping Katara and Sokka in the North, visiting Suki in the Kyoshi Islands, accompanying Zuko to major events in the Fire Nation, finding time to have tea with Uncle Iroh in Ba Sing Se.
Really, the boy should take a vacation. A long vacation.
(So should the rest of Team Avatar, but shhh. Toph didn't say that.)
“Twinkletoes?” Toph speaks up. “What are you doing here? Where is Sparky?”
Her voice - her voice is not her voice.
Otherwise - it is her voice, but at the same time it is not her voice.
It is the voice of a child.
Toph is not a child.
“Sparky?” Aang asks.
His voice is the voice of a child.
Aang should not be a child. Aang is seventeen years old.
Toph is not a child.
She has left her home, fought with people much older and more experienced than her, established her own school and made friends in the form of rulers or representatives of nations. Toph is not a porcelain doll.
“What is going on?” Toph doesn't understand. “Why... why am I so young?”
This is probably the wrong question, because Aang makes a strange face (yes, Toph is blind, but she knows perfectly well when Aang makes a strange face. She knows him too well. Five years is a long time to know someone).
“Em...” Aang is not sure what to answer. “Because you're young?”
Truth.
Toph walks up to him, pulls him close, and then puts her hands to his face.
Aang is shorter than he should be. His face is younger.
“Toph?” Aang asks uncertainly. “Are you all right?”
“No,” replies Toph. “I think I'm going to have a small breakdown. Don't worry about me. I'll be right back.”
Having said this, she leaves, leaving Aang alone.
And then she allows herself a small breakdown.
Why did she went back in time?
What could be the reason for that?
Did she die? If she died, why?
The tea was not poisoned.
Or wait.
Otherwise - the maid thought the tea was not poisoned.
She returns home some time later, after calming down as well as making sure she doesn't explode with anger. So she knows she won't do anything stupid. So she hears the current date.
So.
It looks like Toph is in Ba Sing Se.
In the same Ba Sing Se she has been to many times before. In the same Ba Sing Se where Uncle Iroh has - had - his tea store. In the same Ba Sing Se where Azula killed Aang.
Toph took a liking to Ba Sing Se. Or rather, she likes – will like? – Ba Sing Se. The one that will exist in five years.
And now?
Now they are in the middle of a war.
Just before Azula captured the city.
Wonderful.
Perfect.
Toph dreamed of being in this moment.
“Toph, are you all right?” asks Katara after Toph stops to quiz them about what kind of day they are having at the moment and what is going on.
Her voice is so very young.
Oma and Shu, they are all so young.
Aang is barely twelve. Katara is fourteen. Sokka is fifteen.
These are children, sent to war. Children who were told to fight a monster who wanted to burn down the world.
Toph was also a child.
But now she is no longer. Now it is Toph who is the oldest, even though she doesn't look it. But she feels responsible for these children, especially for Aang.
Who let these children fight? Who determined that the fate of the world should rest on their shoulders?
Life is unfair, Toph states.
And the world they live in is cruel.
“Toph?” Katara asks. “What has happened?”
Toph is silent for a moment.
She wonders whether to tell them the truth.
I came from the future. I know what will happen in the next five years. I know a lot about you, perhaps even more than you know about yourselves.
Should she tell them that?
She could tell them.
At the same time, Toph knows that her story will sound crazy.
Besides - besides, if she tells them everything now, they will think Toph has great expectations of them. Toph knows what they will become - she knows how much they can afford.
She will tell them the truth, sooner or later. Perhaps when Ozai is defeated. Or perhaps the moment they lose hope that it will happen (because Toph is well aware that the day will come when they begin to doubt their abilities).
Besides - besides, Toph wants to have fun with them.
She will pretend that everything is as it was. And at the same time she'll give them some clues. And all three of her friends will lose their heads, unable to figure out why Toph knows the future.
Yes.
That’s this.
Toph smiles broadly.
This is one of the best pranks she could come up with. She won't tell them the truth - but she will throw them clues. She'll wait until finally one of them adds two to two and discovers the truth.
So.
She won't tell them the truth.
Not yet.
Being with them is sometimes... strange, if she were to be honest. Toph loves all three of them. She loves being with them.
She misses Zuko and Suki. Without them, their Team is not complete.
They are all... young. So very young.
Toph has forgotten.
She had forgotten how young they could be. How impulsive their plans could be. How childish they should be.
She loves them anyway.
But they are different. Small events make the situation a little different. Of course, these are still the same people Toph knew - they are still them - but at the same time they are different.
Because Toph is different.
Toph is no longer twelve years old. Toph is no longer a little girl. She looks at the world differently. She reacts differently.
Soon, their relationship might start to become different.
She loves Aang. She loves to tease him and teach him - but at the same time sometimes she just has enough of him. Now they are five years apart, which for adult people isn't much, but for children... for children and teenagers it's a lot. Twelve-year-old Aang and seventeen-year-old Aang are two very different people. Toph doesn't always have patience with his childishness.
She loves Katara. She loves being next to her. But at the same time, Toph sees (pun intended) that Katara hasn't quite grown up yet. She sees how easy it is for her to judge others based on her prejudices. And how much Katara needs someone to simply sit next to her sometimes. Katara needs a mother.
Toph will not become her mother, but she can become her friend.
She loves Sokka. She loves the boy - but at the same time she knows that Sokka is just a boy. He was given a weapon to his hands at a young age and was told to protect the village. He was given such a great responsibility - and Sokka is trying, oh, he is trying so hard. However, Sokka still needs support. He needs a father. He needs someone to tell him that he doesn't have to do everything himself.
Aang, Katara and Sokka are still Aang, Katara and Sokka, but they are no longer her Aang, Katara and Sokka. The moment they met Toph - this new Toph - that irreversible change took place.
But that's okay, Toph thinks.
They are her friends, even if Toph is a little - just a little - different.
Toward the evening of the first day since Toph moved to the past, the earthbender begins to wonder if hiding the truth was a good idea.
She slightly regrets that she wasn't transported back in time a little earlier. Such as when they met Zuko and his Uncle when they fought against Azula.
(“What do you think, if we had helped you then, would the situation have been different?” asked Katara one day.
This was happening a year after the war ended. Maybe two.
“I don't think so,” Zuko replied after a moment's thought. “My loyalty from the whole beginning was to the Fire Nation. I just needed to see that I should be loyal to Fire Nation, not Fire Lord. Staying in Ba Sing Se... taught me humility.”
“Humility!” repeated Sokka with amusement.
“Yes, humility,” confirmed Zuko. “And helped me understand that no matter where we live, we are all just people. That war takes a toll on both sides. And that Fire Nation is actually not as great as we were taught.”
“It would be nice if you understood this before Ba Sing Se,” Katara muttered under her breath.
Zuko twitched.
“I know,” he said, lowering his gaze to avoid looking at her. “But that day... that day I thought I had no other choice, Katara. Me and Uncle had nothing to go back to. I barely knew you guys. Azula offered me the opportunity to return home, and I naively thought that something had changed. That I would be able to gain my father's approval.”
His love.
“Of course, this was never possible.”)
Toph muses.
Ba Sing Se is not a pleasant city, but at least it's free.
For the time being.
Toph originally intended to concentrate on teaching Aang everything she knows about earthbending. On being the best teacher possible.
But now Toph realizes that her reasoning has a key flaw.
She is not going to let Azula kill Aang.
If Azula does not “kill” Aang, Zuko will never return to Fire Nation. He will never realize that he has to defy his father.
And that means he will never join them.
(“Actually, it was funny,” Katara said, taking the tea from Zuko's hands. “We all stayed in the same city for a while, but we never met.”
“Which is a shame,” Sokka stated. “I would have given a lot to see the waiter Zuko.”
“I was not a waiter!” objected Zuko. “I was more... a helper in a tea store?”
“It comes out to one thing, buddy.”)
Toph smiles cheerfully.
She has a tea store to visit and a firebender to kidnap.