Three Years After the Defeat of the Firelord

Aang and Toph: 15
Katara: 17
Zuko: 19
Sokka: 18
Suki: 18

Initial Sparks

“Absolutely not!” exclaimed Toph.
“But Toph!” said Aang. For the past three years, Aang would give Toph rides to and from the gang’s reunion. He did this because while Katara traveled with Zuko, and Sokka traveled with Suki, Toph and Aang had no one to travel with. So Aang would pick up Toph and together, they would fly on Aapa. But there was one little problem this time, Aapa wasn’t here.
“Aapa’s sick. I had to leave him with the guru so he could get better,” continued Aang. “So now the only way we can get there is on my glider. Come on Toph, we can’t miss out on the reunion. We haven’t seen the rest of the gang in 6 months! Imagine what has happened since then.”
“So we’ll see them in a month when Zuko and Katara get married. If you want, you can go and I’ll see you in a month.” She was about to close the door when Aang stopped it with his foot.”
“Please, Toph! It won’t be the same without you. Then not everybody will be there. And the ride will be short, only an hour. This year we are meeting in Ba Sing Se.” Truth was, during the past reunions, he had started liking Toph more than a friend, and he wanted her there, just so he could be with her.
“The thing is Twinkle Toes that on Aapa, at least I can see everything on the saddle and on Aapa. Just with you giving me a ride on the glider, I’ll be totally blind to everything, and vulnerable. And what if you drop me?”
“I promise you Toph, I would never let you fall. You should know that by now.” And Toph could tell he was sincere. His heartbeat and breathing was steady.
“Ok, I give in Aang. But where do I put my stuff?”
“Leave it here. Just bring money with you so we can buy some stuff in the marketplace. Come on, lets go already!”
“Ok, ok, fine.” Toph quickly said good-bye to her parents, who were both not at all comfortable with their daughter leaving, especially with the Avatar. But Toph was hanging over their head that she could easily leave whenever she pleased, so they allowed her to go. She came back outside and felt Momo land on her shoulder. “Hello Momo!” She walked over to Aang. “How does this work?”
“Hmmm…I don’t know exactly. I’ve never done this kind of thing before…”
“WHAT?”
“Hey! I’m a fully realized avatar now, I should be able to figure this out. And I can easily carry us both on the glider.” He thought for a moment and then started to blush. Thank god Toph can’t see me blushing. “Umm…Toph, I thought of a way we can work this out.”
“Great! What?”
“You are gonna have to put your arms around my neck.” Then he took her arms and wrapped them around his neck. He started blushing furiously now. “And you should probably tuck your feet around my legs to make sure that you are somewhat comfortable.”
“Aang…”
“I know, I know…” But her feet were tucked around his anyway. She could feel how muscular he had become. No longer the lanky 12 year-old she first met, mastering all the elements had made him lean and robust. Her arms had to reach up so she could wrap them around his neck. She felt something furry on the back of his neck. She pulled on it, thinking it was an animal.
“OW!”
“Sorry Aang! Is that hair?”
“Yeah, I’ve been going for a new look.”
Toph laughed. It was a pretty laugh, but also husky at the same time. “Lets get going then.” Her heart was beating rapidly.
“Nervous?” asked Aang.
“Never,” said Toph. And with a gust of wind, they were soaring. In the beginning, Toph was holding on to Aang for dear life. She was nearly choking him. After a while, she started to loosen her grip. She was starting to enjoy herself. She liked feeling the cool breeze and the heat of the sun all at the same time. Her hair fell out of her bun and started whirling around. She sort of felt like she was flying. No, she did feel like she was flying, And Aang was flying with her. She started smiling to herself.
“Is that a smile Toph?” asked a smug avatar.
“Shut up Twinkle Toes.”
“Just admit that you are enjoying yourself and I won’t say another word on the subject.”
“Fine. Flying is ok…”
“‘Ok’ is not really enjoying Toph…”
“FINE! I…am…enjoying……flying.”
Aang laughed. “I knew you would.”
“Well lets not forget you when you first started earth bending,” she teased. She could never forget how scared and nervous he was. How great he later became.
“You got me there Sifu Toph.” And for the next half hour they joked and had some moments in silence, enjoying the moment. When they landed for a break, they decided to grab a bite to eat. Toph’s heart was beating fast. She hadn’t felt like this in…ever. When she was very young, she was vulnerable to the world. But as she grew up, she became so strong willed and so stubborn like the earth. When she mastered earth bending, she never had to depend on anybody again. But while she was flying with Aang, she was totally dependent on him. But unlike her parents, Aang showed no sense of superiority. He was still the playful monk he was up there as he was down here, where they were equals. And he had showed genuine care for her. She started to realize that maybe she had feelings for Aang that were something more than “just friends.”
After they ate lunch and rested for a bit, they hopped back on the glider. This time sure of what they were doing. Her hair had fallen out of its bun again, even after Toph had spent 10 minutes trying to keep it together. This time, Aang saw her hair slowly fall out of the kempt bun. He couldn’t help but watch. She looked so pretty with her hair down. He was so busy looking at Toph that he flew right through a cloud. They were a little wet when they came out.
“Aang! What was that for?”
“Sorry! Just sort of thinking and I guess I forgot to look where I was going.” He was blushing furiously. That was when he caught sight of Ba Sing Se. “We’re nearly there Toph. You won’t have to be doing this for much longer.”
“I’m ok with it, really. Flying is more fun than I imagined. I’m just thinking why in the world we are going back to Ba Sing Se. We hated that place. Now we are going back. Why couldn’t we meet somewhere else?”
“I don’t know…Katara and Zuko just wanted to go there I guess. They said it had some sort of special meaning to them in their letter…I’m guessing because that was the first time Katara saw another side to Zuko or something.”
“Oh…”
“But it should be better now. Remember Bumi? He’s king of the Earth Kingdom now…no more of these crazy rules.”
“Sweet…” Toph was silent for a while. “Hey Aang?”
“Yeah Toph?”
“Do you think everything will be different now? I mean, Zuko and Katara are together and Sokka and Suki are together. Do you think we’ll be kicked out occasionally because they would want some privacy?”
“No…they would never do that to us. And even if they did, we always have each other and Momo to keep us company.”
“Its nice to know that Aang.” They were passing the Great Wall now. “Where are we gonna be staying? Upper ring?”
“There are no rings anymore. Remember I told you last time I visited? Ever since Bumi became king, he broke them down. The outerwall is still there of course, he helped fix that up personally. But in a letter, Bumi told me that he had a house for us in a really good location. I visited it a while back to see what it looked like. It is far away from the capital, so we don’t have to deal with all those rich people. But it is also close enough that we could have easily flown over there on Aapa. But its also close to the country side and not to far from a marketplace if we ever feel like going. As a matter of fact, we are there right now!” Aang flew down, making a soft landing. He saw two carriages there already and assumed that the rest of the group was already inside.
“Yep, they’re already here,” said Toph, as if to answer his question. She let go of Aang, and made toward the house. She looked troubled though, as if she was debating something inside her head. Then all of a sudden, she turned around and ran toward Aang. “Thanks for the ride. It was fun” She told him. She kissed him on the cheek really quickly and ran inside, leaving Aang happy and confused.