Chapter Text
Toph didn’t know why she’d decided to go to the Jasmine Dragon. Maybe it was because of all the ravings she’d heard about it. Maybe it was because she’d wanted to get away from the others and that creepy Joo Dee lady. Maybe it was because she was missing her parents and they’d always had afternoon tea together.
She walked into the tea shop, basking in the comforting, earthy scent of tea. People chatted amicably at the tables and there was a nice plush rug laid out in the middle of the floor.
Toph took a seat at one of the empty tables, happily tapping her feet against the cool stone floor.
She didn’t have to wait long for service.
“Welcome to the Jasmine Dragon.” The waiter greeted her, probably a teenaged boy by the sound of his voice. “My name is Lee and I’ll be your server for today.” And wasn’t that interesting? Lee was lying. His name wasn’t Lee.
Then “Lee” handed her a menu. Poor guy didn’t even notice he’d handed a blind girl something she couldn’t read. He just kept going with his customer service spiel.
“Our specials for the day are Oolong Tea and Egg Tarts. Do you need time to decide or are you ready to order now?”
Toph snorted. “Buddy. You realize I can’t read this, right?”
The waiter paused and she knew he was actually looking at her now. She heard his sharp intake of breath when he realized.
“Oh, fuck me.”
Toph burst out laughing.
“Shit. Sorry. I mean— uh, my bad.” He was trying so hard, but he was obviously very flustered by the situation. The way many people were when they were confronted with her blindness. But this guy in particular seemed to really stick his foot in his mouth. “Would… would you like me to read the menu to you?”
“Sure.” Toph said dryly and handed it back to him.
“Okay, uh…” Lee cleared his throat awkwardly. “Under ‘Teas’, our options are jasmine tea, ginseng tea, cloudberry tea…”
He rattled them all off to her. Lee didn’t rush through it, like many people did when flustered. He went at a steady pace, pausing after each type of tea so Toph could ask questions if she needed too.
“Besides Tea we also have our… ‘Treats.’” Toph could tell Lee did not like calling them “Treats,” but was probably required to refer to them like that by the management. It was kinda hilarious. This guy was a riot. “We have mochi, mango pudding, fried dough twists…”
He listed off the options. Most of them were sweets and Toph found herself drooling over the description of the custard buns. Before traveling with Team Avatar, Toph had never gotten to eat a lot of fatty foods. Her mother always wanted her to watch her figure and eat healthy. Health and safety was practically her parents’ motto. Toph herself subscribed to the “you only live once” saying. She wanted adventure and she was getting it, until they’d come to Ba Sing Se that is. Stupid city and its stupid controlling rules.
“I think I’ll have the oolong tea and a custard bun. Thanks, Lee.”
Lee jotted it down on his notepad, then awkwardly said bye and shuffled off to bring her order to the kitchen. He really was an odd turtleduck.
Toph was bursting with curiosity. Why was this random teenager lying about his name? He was working at a tea shop, not for the city guards. She doubted tea shops did background checks. Even if this one was in a swanky place like the Upper Ring. Maybe he had a criminal past? Or was he in hiding for some reason?
With how creepy this city was Toph couldn’t blame people for being cautious. But lying about something as simple as a given name… she had a feeling there was a story there.
Lee brought back her order and Toph sipped at her tea. It was good. It was really fucking good. She didn’t know tea could be this good. And with her former status as a nobleman’s daughter, that was saying something.
“This is the best tea I’ve ever had.” Toph was almost affronted by how good it was. How was she supposed to go back to Aang’s watery tea after this? “What’d you put in this?”
“Uh… tea leaves and water?” Lee said, not sounding too sure of himself.
When Toph made an incredulous face he sighed.
“My uncle says it’s made with…” He paused. “Love.” He gritted out.
Toph giggled. “Don’t hurt yourself, grumpy pants.”
“I am not—“ He cut his own heated words off with a sigh. “If anyone’s grumpy it’s those stuffy politicians at table three.”
“Oh, yeah. They’re the worst.” Toph agreed, thinking sourly of Long Feng. What she wouldn’t give to crush that slimy elbow leech.
“Uncle keeps fussing at me for scowling at them.” Lee complained. “I’m not scowling. This is just my face. So what if I’m not smiling all the time and acting like the sun is shining out of my ahh…” He trailed off with a cough.
It was cute that he was trying not to swear in front of her. But Toph heard way worse at the Earth Rumble tournaments. There was a reason the term “dirty mouth” existed.
Toph snickered. “If it makes you feel any better. I don’t care if you smile or not.” She waved a hand in front of her eyes. “It’s not like I can tell.”
“At least there’s one customer who doesn’t care about my resting bitch face,” Lee deadpanned, forgetting his previous attempts to not swear in front of a twelve year old. “Well, thanks for the uh— yeah. Bye…” He trailed off and Toph realized she hadn’t told him her name.
“Toph.”
“Right. Bye, Toph.” He said, his voice warmer than before, then moved to serve another table.
Lee was an awkward guy, but he seemed nice enough. He was a typical moody teenaged boy as far as Toph could tell. So what would he have to hide?
She finished up her meal— if it could be called that. As she was walking past the kitchen on her way out, her ears perked at the sound of Lee’s raspy voice.
“I gave a blind girl a menu, Uncle. A blind girl.” Lee groaned and banged his head on a table. “Why do I always fuck up so bad?”
His uncle let out a booming belly laugh. “I’m sure it wasn’t that bad, nephew. She didn’t demand to see the manager, did she?”
The old man’s voice sounded familiar for some reason. But Toph couldn’t put her finger on why that was.
“No. She thought it was funny. A twelve year old girl was laughing at me.”
“Well, you’re used to that with your sister aren’t you?” The old man commented, amused.
“That’s not funny, Uncle.” Lee hissed. “Az- she's is the last person I want to think about right now.”
Toph frowned. Why had he cut himself off like that? Was Lee's sister's name also a secret like his own? It was all very mysterious. Toph would definitely be coming back here. For the fantastic tea and to figure out what this Lee guy’s deal was. It's not like she had anything better to do. Ba Sing Se was so boring.
“Bye, Lee!” Toph called out as she left. “It was nice talking to you.”
“Bye, Toph!” Lee waved back.
“Nephew. She’s blind.” His uncle reminded him and Lee sputtered.
Toph snickered under her breath. Not that Lee or his uncle knew this, but she could sense most movements with her earthbending. Especially if she was concentrating.
The seeing were so dumb sometimes. But Lee was an endearing kind of dumb. At least he wasn’t trying to hover over her like Katara.
As Toph walked back to Team Avatar’s house, she wondered what Lee was hiding, but more importantly… she wondered if she’d just made a new friend. Not because she could teach the Avatar earthbending, or that she was a nobleman’s daughter, or out of pity for her blindness. But just because she was Toph.
— — —
Zuko was having a rough day. A rough week. A rough past three years. He knew he had been acting like a spoiled brat when he complained about his job serving tea, but he was the Prince of the Fire Nation. He was meant to be doing more with his life. Azula would laugh herself hoarse if she knew what Zuko was doing. From a prince to a lowly servant. How far had he fallen?
But Uncle looked so happy. Zuko knew he hadn’t been the easiest person to be around the past three years, yet Uncle had stuck with him through thick and thin. He deserved a chance to live his dream.
And it wasn’t like Zuko had anything better to do. He had been declared a traitor, which was even worse than being a banished prince. It was all Zhao’s stupid fault. If he hadn’t tried to butt in on Zuko’s mission or kill a vital worldly spirit, neither of them would be in this situation.
What had Zhao even been thinking? The Fire Nation needed the moon too. They were an archipelago for fuck’s sake; they relied on the tides just as much as the Water Tribe did. Zhao just didn’t care about casualties as long as he got the glory. He was just like that General who’d wanted to use new army recruits as cannon fodder so he could obtain a military victory. Neither of them had cared about the Fire Nation’s people. Not like Zuko did. So why was he the one that was always punished? It wasn’t fair!
Zuko barely restrained himself from lashing out with fire wreathed fists. He couldn’t firebend here. Not with those Dai Li agents crawling everywhere. He’d watched them drag off Jet and he was one of their own people. Who knows what they’d do if they found out there were firebenders here. Or even worse, if they realized they were members of the Fire Nation’s royal family — Especially seeing as his Uncle had led a siege on their city for six hundred days.
Yeah, he couldn’t let anyone see him firebend or they were fucked. He’d already been stupid enough to firebend on his date with Jin. He couldn’t mess up again.
But it was so frustrating. It wasn’t just working as a waiter, but having to pretend to be something he wasn’t… it was both freeing and confining. On one hand, no one here knew his shame. They didn’t know his scar was the mark of a banished prince. They saw it as an object of pity, or a sign of strength. On the other hand, he couldn’t firebend, or use his real name, or talk about anything that could link back to his identity as the Fire Prince.
He needed to get out of here. Out of this tea shop. Out of this stupid, suffocating city.
“I’m taking my break, Uncle.” Zuko called back and hung up his apron.
His Uncle always let him take a break when he asked. Either he was being nice, or he knew if he didn’t let Zuko go he’d end up with more outraged customers demanding to speak with the manager. Zuko had only blown up on some lady one time. But she’d asked for tea with no leaves in it, then got mad at him when he brought her water. Customers like that made his old days of hunting the Avatar look like good times. Even if the airbender was the most annoying person to fight in all of history. The little brat just wouldn’t stay still!
As Zuko was storming off, he nearly ran into a girl. He barely stopped in time, twisting his body to curve around her.
“Woah, where are you going in such a huff?” The girl asked.
Zuko scowled down at her, then paused when he realized who she was. “Toph?”
She cocked her head. “That you, Lee?”
“Yeah, it’s me,” Zuko confirmed.
He hadn’t thought of it before, but it was probably difficult for a blind person to recognize other people. Zuko made a mental note to remember to introduce himself next time he saw her. He didn’t want to stick his foot in his mouth again. At least when he’d handed her the menu, he’d had the excuse of not looking at her closely because he was tired from his shift, but then even after he knew he’d waved at her. Ugh. No wonder she’d laughed at him so much.
“But I’m going on my break, so if you want more tea you’ll need to find a different waiter,” Zuko said.
Might as well get that out of the way before she tried to order something. Customers had accosted him when he was on a break before, which usually resulted in Zuko blowing his top. He hated it when people cut into his break time. At least Uncle respected it when he said he needed one.
“Oh, I was actually here to see you,” Toph grinned.
“Why?” Zuko asked, unable to keep the incredulity out of his voice. He couldn’t imagine why someone would want to talk to him, unless it was to yell in his face that he was a bad waiter.
“Because I wanted to hang out with you. You seem cool.”
Zuko stared at her in disbelief. No one had ever… Zuko hadn’t exactly been a popular person. Everyone in the palace knew Azula held father’s favor and flocked to her. Zuko had never really had friends outside of Azula’s trio, and they had been Azula’s friends first and foremost. Plus there was the thing with Jet, which had turned out to be a disaster. One minute a cute boy was flirting with him, the next he was screaming about him being a firebender.
Toph rocked back on the balls of her feet. Her bare feet. Who walked barefoot outside? Even in a place as nice as the Upper Ring. “So, are you just gonna keep standing there not saying anything or…”
Right. Zuko had been standing there staring at her like a complete weirdo. “Sorry. I was just surprised.”
“It’s cool.” Toph reassured him. “My friends tell me I can be too blunt sometimes.”
“No, it’s not that… I uhh…” Zuko didn’t know how to finish that sentence without sounding really pathetic. He switched gears instead. “I actually appreciate it. I wish people would just say what they mean, instead of beating around the bush or just implying things.”
His years in the palace hadn’t been easy, especially with Azula around. There were all these rules, but no one explained them to him, and they changed all the time. He was constantly making missteps and Azula never let him forget it. Neither had his father.
“Right?” Toph agreed enthusiastically. “I’m blind, so a lot of times when people try to be subtle, I don’t pick up on it. I can’t see their facial expressions, so I’m relying mostly on what they say. But people are so obsessed with manners and being polite that they cause misunderstandings.”
“You’d think being honest would be seen as the right thing, but nooo. You’re being rude, Pri—“ Zuko froze. He’d been imitating Uncle and had almost referred to himself as Prince Zuko. That could’ve been bad. He coughed awkwardly. “You’re being rude. You’re gonna hurt their feelings. All because I didn’t douse what I was saying in pleasantries. It wasn’t like I was insulting them or anything.”
“Exactly.” Toph threaded an arm through his, pulling him away from the Jasmine Dragon and leading him down the streets. “See? This is why I wanted to hang out with you, Lee. We click well. And now I’m even more sure of it.”
“Alright.” Zuko reluctantly agreed, mostly because of their bonding over the ridiculousness of social niceties. “What do you want to do?”
That’s what people did when they hung out together, right? They did activities?
“I dunno.” Toph shrugged. “I just wanted to talk to you. Hey, are you a bender? Maybe we could have a sparring match!”
“You’re an earthbender?” Zuko asked, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice.
Toph had been nothing but friendly to him, but Zuko’s past experience with earthbenders hadn’t exactly left him with a positive impression. They’d tried to crush Uncle’s hands. They’d dragged Jet off into the night. They’d killed Lu Ten.
“Yep.” Toph paused, then stomped her foot and a chunk of rock rose out the ground, before she slammed it back down. “I’m the greatest earthbender in the world!”
“Woah. Big talk.” Zuko teased. He didn’t doubt that she was a good earthbender, but the greatest? She was only twelve.
However, Azula had out-mastered firebenders three times her age at eight years old. So, maybe Zuko should give Toph the benefit of the doubt?
“Those are fighting words, mister.” She clicked her tongue. “And don’t you go doubting me because I’m blind. I can see with my earth sense.”
“You… what?” Zuko sputtered, flabbergasted.
“I use my bending to sense the things around me. It’s how I know there’s a group of people over there, and a fountain over there, and a carriage going by over there.” Toph pointed to each of them in turn. “As long as it’s touching the ground and in my range, I can sense it.”
“Woah,” Zuko breathed. In that moment he was glad Toph couldn’t see facial expressions, because he knew he must look stunned stupid. “That’s amazing!”
Come to think of it, he could usually sense the fire around him too. Thanks to years of meditating to a flame, he could feel the torches and candles flickering in a room. But using bending to get a sense of one’s surroundings? That went beyond anything Zuko had ever thought possible.
“You know it!” Toph boasted, pumping her fist in the air. “So, can you earthbend too? Because I’ll gladly kick your butt.”
“No, I'm not an earthbender. But I’m pretty good with swords.”
It was best to let her think Zuko was a nonbender. Azula had always told him he was a shit liar, so he knew going with vague truths and omissions would be better in the long run. Besides, he had plenty of nonbending skills to fall back on. His time learning under Piandao had been some of the best times of his life. He’d kept up his training after being banished, even though he knew he should be focusing solely on his firebending.
Toph folded her arms behind her head. “Well, I don’t know how much use a sword will be if I throw a big rock at you.”
“I have two swords,” Zuko corrected, a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth.
“My bad,” Toph deadpanned and they both dissolved into chuckles.
“I wouldn’t count me out. I’ve fought an earthbender with just my swords before.” Granted, he hadn’t been able to win without the help of his fire bending, but he’d taken out three other soldiers before that so it had never been a fair fight to begin with.
“Ooh, that sounds like a story,” Toph said, eagerly grabbing onto his arm like Azula used to do when she wanted him to come play with her. But that was a long time ago. Before she started to flourish in her fire bending, before she got older and meaner, before mom left and everything fell apart.
Zuko pushed those thoughts away, focusing on regaling Toph with the story of how he’d taken on corrupt earth kingdom soldiers who were terrorizing a town, omitting the firebending part and the following hatred of the townsfolk of course.
“Good on you, taking out the bad guys.” Toph clapped him on the back and Zuko barely kept himself from stumbling forwards. “But if you had trouble with a regular old earth bender, you’re never gonna be able to beat me. I was the champion of Earth Rumble Six!”
“I think I’ve heard of that.” Zuko said. “Never been to one, though.”
A lot of the towns he’d passed through had been buzzing about earth bending tournaments. At the time, Zuko had been disgusted by the notion. In the Fire Nation, all benders had been conscripted into the army as soon as they were of age. It used to be at eighteen, but in recent years it had been pushed down to sixteen due to the need for more bodies.
If Zuko was back in the Fire Nation, he’d be serving in the army right now. He was just as bad as those earth benders, avoiding his duty to save his own hide. But after seeing all the destruction and sorrow the war had brought on the people of the Earth Kingdom, Zuko wasn’t sure if he’d want to help perpetuate it. They were horrible treasonous thoughts, but his own thoughts nonetheless.
Zuko had never been good at doing what he was supposed to. He’d failed at being a good firebender, a good prince. He would never match up to the expectations his father had of him, even if he had succeeded in capturing the Avatar. How long would he last before he made another mistake and was punished for it?
“Well, you don’t have to sound so gloomy about it. I can tell you all about my matches!” Toph declared.
She jumped into story after story of how she’d wiped the floor with the other competitors. From gigantic men like the Hippo, to crafty guys like the Gopher. Zuko hung onto every word, glad for the distraction from his past, even if he did sputter indignantly at her description of the Fire Nation Man.
“Yeah, he was totally lame,” Toph laughed, misunderstanding the reason for Zuko’s offense. “But don’t worry, I knocked him on his ass, like, a dozen times.”
“How could he even be Fire Nation if he was an earth bender?” Zuko asked. “I mean, I suppose there are people with mixed heritage…”
Zuko didn’t want to finish that thought. He didn’t want to think about how kids with mixed heritage came to be in a time of war.
“Nah, it wasn’t that.” Toph waved away the concern. “He was just hired to do that so Earth Rumble could have a showy villain to attract more customers.”
Zuko nodded. “Ah, that makes sense.”
The Fire Nation did a similar thing for the war. They made out people in the earth kingdom to be uncivilized brutes. But Zuko had talked with loads of earth kingdom citizens, and he knew that what he’d learned in school had been wrong. After all, it was easier to convince people to fight when they thought so lowly of their opponents.
“Ooh, something smells good,” Toph commented, turning towards a street vendor’s stall. “What is it?”
They drifted closer. The smell of cooking meat had Zuko’s stomach clenching. “It’s some kind of grilled meat on a stick.”
“We got all kinds of meat here!” The vendor shouted. “Elephant koi from Kyoshi Island! Hippo cow from Gaoling! Turtleduck from our very own Ba Sing Se!”
Zuko winced at the mention of Kyoshi Island. He’d burned their houses trying to draw out the Avatar. Looking back on it, he was relieved the Avatar had put out the fires before he’d fled. Zuko had never sought out to hurt anyone, but he’d never really cared about collateral damage either. It was like he had tunnel vision when it came to the Avatar, and everything else just stopped existing.
“I’ll take the turtleduck skewer.” Toph said eagerly, fishing out some coins from her pockets. “What do you want, Tea Boy?”
“Tea Boy?” Zuko repeated incredulously and Toph just laughed.
“Yeah, because you’re a boy and you like tea,” Toph said in a duh sort of tone.
“Just because I work at a tea shop doesn’t mean I like tea,” Zuko grumbled.
Toph elbowed him. “Just order something, dummy.”
“Uhh… the hippo cow for me.”
They paid for their food and walked on. Toph was getting sauce all over her face, but Zuko had a feeling she wouldn’t care even if he pointed it out.
Zuko knew roast turtleduck was a popular dish. But he couldn’t bring himself to eat it, not when it made him think of the ones in the palace gardens. His mother had loved those gardens. They’d spend hours out there, feeding the turtle ducks, reading theater scrolls, and playing games. Even Azula had joined in sometimes, but her games weren’t very fun.
“Ah. That hit the spot,” Toph said as she finished her skewer, patting her belly.
“Do you really like roasted turtleduck?” Zuko asked, not able to help feeling a little betrayed. Which was ridiculous. It was just an animal. A small, fuzzy, adorable animal.
Toph licked her lips. “Yep! It’s my favorite.”
Zuko choked back a wounded sound, but Toph’s ears were too sharp for it to go unheard.
“What?” Toph cocked her head to the side. “Do you not like turtleduck?”
“I do. Just not as food. They’re all cute and fuzzy and I feel bad about eating them,” Zuko grumbled, looking down at his feet.
Toph burst out laughing.
“Hey!” Zuko yelled, blushing furiously. “Stop laughing! Toph! I’m serious!”
“Oh man.” Toph wiped at her eyes. “You're just like Twinkle Toes. He gets all sad about eating animals too. He won’t even eat meat because of it.”
“I’m not that bad! It’s just turtleducks. They… they were my mother’s…” He swallowed thickly. “My mother loved to feed the turtleducks at the pond. We’d go all the time. Me and her.”
He really missed her. She’d been so kind. She’d never made him feel bad about not getting things as fast as Azula. He never had to worry about not being enough with her. Unlike with father.
Toph paused. “Did she..?”
“Yeah,” Zuko nodded miserably. “She’s gone.”
“Was it the Fire Nation?” Toph asked.
Yes. No. He didn’t know how to answer that question, so he stayed silent, his fists clenched at his sides.
“It seems like everyone I know lost someone to them.” Toph continued, allowing him his silence. “Two of my friends lost their mom too. One lost his entire family. But I’m lucky. My parents had lots of money so they were able to stay safe.” Her voice trembled. “And I have the gall to complain about them… even when others don’t have any.”
“My uncle lost his son to the war,” Zuko offered, not knowing if it would comfort her or make her feel worse. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m just a replacement son for him. Since his real one is gone.”
“I’m sure that’s not true,” Toph reassured him.
“Yeah, but we can’t help but have our doubts about our family, right? I don’t think it makes us bad people, just human.” Zuko really sucked at this whole “people” thing, but he could try for Toph.
“You have a point. With my parents I… I’m not sure if they actually love me. The real me. It’s like they have this idea of who their daughter is — who she should be — in their head, and when I don’t match up to that they get upset.” She swiped at her eyes as tears spilled over. “I don’t want to disappoint them, but I’m tired of pretending to be something I’m not, y’know?”
“I know the feeling. My father he uh… I was never good enough for him,” Zuko admitted softly. “I tried so hard to be a good son, but… it was never enough. I always fell short.” His hand brushed against his scar. The evidence of that fact.
Toph cleared her throat. “Man, this got really heavy, huh?” She joked, trying valiantly to pretend like she hadn’t been crying.
“Yeah uh… whoops?”
Toph laughed and he did too, they sat down on the curb, leaning on each other until their emotions didn’t feel so overwhelming.
“How about next time, I bring my swords and we can have that sparring match?” Zuko offered. “No emotions, just violence.”
“That sounds perfect.” Toph smiled.
That evening, when Zuko returned home, Uncle was waiting up for him. It was annoying, but kinda sweet too.
“Did you have a good time with your friend, Zuko?” Uncle asked, because of course he’d noticed Zuko leaving with her.
“Yeah.” Zuko admitted with a soft smile. “Yeah, I did.”
Uncle swept him up in a hug, holding him close. “I’m happy you made a friend, Zuko. So happy.”
“I think… I think I’m starting to be too.” Zuko whispered back.