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Peacetime is really fun. For about four days.
Don’t get her wrong, Toph is way super happy that the Fire Loser’s reign of supreme terror was over. And peacetime was, of course, literally everyone’s goal for the last 100 years. Toph was so down for relaxing and doing nothing but being spoiled until the end of time.
But then she got really bored. Preparing for the biggest battle in over three generations tended to make people a little battle crazy. Toph wanted to have some more action, could you blame her? Aang and Katara were dead set on helping people adjust to the new era, which was sweet and all but for the two years they went traveling together, Toph has done nothing challenging except restraining herself from punching people who said they didn’t want their help.
Who wouldn’t want the Avatar’s help in rebuilding society? Stupid people who deserve punching, that’s who.
Anyways, two years of travel with Aang, Katara, and Sokka was boring crap and the only times she’s had fun was making fun of how domestic Aang and Katara were with Sokka, so she made a decision.
“I’m leaving.” She announced, when they had all landed back in the Fire Nation to visit Zuko and Suki.
“What? But we just got here!” whined Aang. “Where could you possibly be going to in the Fire Nation?”
Toph rolled her eyes. “I didn’t mean now . Of course I’m gonna stay to make fun of Sparky. I meant after . Once we leave, we won’t be leaving together. I mean, we’ll be leaving at the same time, but I’m not travelling with you guys anymore.”
She could feel all Aang and Katara’s shoulder’s stiffen. They weren’t expecting to hear this news.
“You’re just going to leave? Just like that?” Katara asked. She was worried, Toph knew, but her tone was sharp. “Where are you even going to go? What will you do?”
“Oh come on, Sugar Queen. You didn’t think we’d be travelling together for the rest of our lives, did you?”
Katara flushed. “Well-!”
Sokka looked at Toph one more time and sighed. “C’mon, Katara. Let’s go in. We can talk about this later.”
Katara stayed rooted to her spot. “Talk about it later? Talk about what ? She can’t just leave, we’re supposed to stay together!”
Toph’s anger spiked and she leaned deep into Katara’s space. “Who the hell are you to tell me if I can or can’t leave? I don’t know how many times I have to tell you this, but you’re not my mother. Even if you were, I’d still leave! You can’t tell me what I can and can’t do! And what do you mean we’re supposed to stay together? Last I checked, Aang is a perfectly fine earthbender. You don’t need me and I don’t need you !” She rammed her heel into the earth, and released a pillar of rock up higher than the palace in frustration, and stormed away. Katara, enraged, entered the palace from the opposite direction.
Aang and Sokka looked at each other. “That could’ve gone better,” Aang said as he pushed down the pillar.
Sokka raised an eyebrow. “Sure, Aang. Let’s hurry up and find Suki and Zuko. Spending all my time with two twelve year olds and my little sister was not good for the brain.”
“Hey!” Aang called out from behind him. “I’m one hundred and fourteen ! I’m older than you by 102 years!”
They were staying at the Palace for two weeks to celebrate the anniversary of “Zuko’s a good guy, for real this time!”
Within their second hour of arrival, Zuko could feel a headache forming.
“Wait,” He said to Aang and Sokka, who were talking over each other at a mile a minute. He looked to his right at Suki and she raised her eyebrow back at him. She had no idea what they were saying either. “Explain again why they’re mad at each other this time, but do it one at a time, please.”
The two looked to Zuko and Suki and then to themselves again.
“Well, it’s their same reason for being mad at each other as usual.” Sokka explained, clearing up absolutely nothing.
“Yeah, they’re just fighting over the same thing they usually do.” Aang added.
This time, Suki slapped her hand to her forehead. “Need I remind you two that we didn’t travel with you guys until the very end, very stressful, very ‘no time for infighting’ time of the mission? We don’t know what they usually fight about.”
Both Aang and Sokka looked very puzzled. “You don’t know what they fight about?” The two asked in tandem.
Zuko and Suki looked at each other then back at the two. “No.” They responded in a deadpan.
“Oh.” Aang said, sounding confused. “Well, they fight about…” He stopped himself, then looked at Sokka. “What do they fight about?”
Sokka shrugged. “I dunno. Girl stuff maybe? There’s definitely something there about parents, maybe? I’m not entirely sure, I’ll be honest.”
Aang nodded decisively. “Girl stuff it is.” He looked towards Zuko and Suki decisively. “They’re fighting about girl stuff!”
The rest of their vacation wasn’t as fun as they’d all hoped. Aang and Sokka traded places hanging out with Toph and Katara while Zuko spent his mornings with whoever Katara was with and nights with whoever Toph was with. Their dinners together were tense and awkward with all three boys trying to lighten the stiff atmosphere, even with Katara and Toph sitting as far away from each other as possible.
“OKAY!” Sokka screamed one night at dinner. “That’s enough! Aang, Zuko, you’re with Katara. Suki, with me for Toph. We’re going to figure out what the heck is wrong with both of you and we’re doing it tonight so I don’t have to spend the rest of my vacation with so much tension.”
When no one moved, Sokka started shooing them all out of their seats. “Come on! Come on! Move it!”
Toph and Katara grumbled the whole way but didn’t object.
Sokka closed the door to Toph’s room. He crossed his arms and stood next to Suki, both of them eyeing Toph as she flopped down on her bed.
“Alright, Toph, spill. You have to have some kind of plan here, right? You’re an earthbender, all that immovable and sturdy ideology means you’ve got a plan and you’re not just going with the flow, right? Because we all know she’s just worried about you. So you gotta give her this plan of yours before she forcibly locks you up on Appa forever.”
Suki, nervously, chimed in. “That was just a joke. Katara’s not that intense.”
“No, she is,” Toph added roughly. “It’s not like she could ever stop me, though. Are you doubting me, Sokka?”
Through gritted teeth, he replied. “No, I’m not. You know I’m not. I don’t ever doubt you. But we both know Katara is going to find a way to keep you by her side until she knows you’re going to be safe because that’s just who she is. I know you want to go. Spirits, being around those two lovebirds makes me want to leave sometimes too.” He put his hands on her shoulders, grounding her. “But we’ve been a team for too long for one of us to just leave without anyone else knowing. So… plan?”
For a tense minute, Toph was still rigid under Sokka’s grip. Eventually, she conceded. “Alright. Alright, but you’ve gotta help me come up with a plan. You’re the plan guy and I’m plan-less and Suki is like… plan advisor. Sort-of. I don’t have a plan. But I can’t keep traveling with you guys. I feel like I’m losing my mind, just going from place to place without doing anything for myself .”
Sokka and Suki smiled at each other. “I guess it’s finally time for plan-guy to shine.”
“Uhhhh.” Aang drawled, tugging at the collar of his shirt. “I don’t really… Sokka didn’t really tell us what we should be talking about,” He said, whispering to Zuko who was hiding in the corner of Katara’s room next to him. Currently, she was pacing a warpath and nearly screaming about her Toph-frustrations.
“Should we… stop her?” He asked tentatively. Aang nodded.
“Katara– ” Her head whipped up to meet his.
“Who does she think she is? She can’t just go traipsing around the world with no purpose! So what if you don’t need an Earthbending master anymore? We’re a team , we can’t just leave each other!”
“Well, I left.” Zuko added absentmindedly.
“That’s different,” She said, voice a little more even. “You had a duty to your Nation and to the world.”
“Well maybe Toph has a duty to herself. To be happy.” Aang said. “She’s been a lot less cheerful, haven’t you noticed? I don’t want to be the reason she’s unhappy by keeping her tied down to us, do you?”
“Of course not!” Katara yelled, angry. “But how do we know she’s not just going to be even more unhappy without us! You remember how she lived before she came with us.”
Aang’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah. I do. She was unhappy with her parents, but she found a way to make it work. And now she’s unhappy with us. I don’t want us to be like her parents, Katara. I don’t want to have her sneak around and feel like she can’t tell us that she’s unhappy.”
“You guys are being way too literal about this,” Zuko said, stepping between the two. “Aang, I get what you’re saying. But you already sound like your Toph’s dad. You and Toph are the same age. Stop talking like you’re her dad because it’s weird for everyone.” Katara nodded softly. “And Katara. You’re even worse! You’re actually acting like Toph’s literal mother! Whom I have never met but I can for sure say you are definitely acting like. She’s her own person who can make her own choices. If those choices include traveling on her own for a bit, so be it. If you both are so desperate to act like parents to her, be proper parents and support her own journey.”
Katara and Aang blinked at Zuko. The fight slowly died out of Katara. “You’re right,” She whispered. “I am acting just like her mother. Even after I promised not to.” Katara looked Zuko in the eyes and nodded. “I’ll go apologize now.”
Aang, on the other hand, saddled up towards Zuko. “Wow! Zuko, what you said gave me chills!”
Zuko smiled. “Just something Uncle taught me.”
“I wish your uncle was here with us. It’s not as fun without him."
“I tried to get him to come here, but he insisted it would be better if it was ‘just the kids’ celebrating together.”
Aang raised his eyebrow. “Wow. Even though there’d be nothing to celebrate without his help?”
Zuko rolled his eyes. “I would’ve figured it out and joined you guys eventually.”
“Zuko, I mean this from the bottom of my heart.” He turned and put his hands on Zuko’s shoulders, forcing him to look deep into his eyes. “I would trade you for your uncle any day.”
Zuko laughed. “I’d be offended if you didn’t.”
“You’re going to teach metalbending?” Katara asked, grinning ear to ear. She picked Toph up in a swift hug. “Oh, that’s so amazing, Toph! I can’t believe it. No, I can believe it. You taught Aang everything he knows about earthbending. I’m sure you’ll do great.”
“Thanks, Sugar Queen,” Toph said gently. “Now… wanna go to the city and see how much money we can scam off people?”
“Of course!” Katara cheered. “Only if we give it all back though.”
Toph stuck out her tongue. “Bleh.”
The rest of their vacation was smoother. More celebration, more laughing, less infighting. Well, slightly less infighting.
Toph could tell that for some reason Sokka was angry with her. He went rigid whenever she walked in the room. Yeah he laughed with everyone and acted like usual, but he was lying through his teeth doing so. He wasn’t really laughing at anything.
Three days before they would all depart, Toph confronted him. When he announced he was heading to bed and Suki said she wasn’t going to sleep until after she said goodnight to her fellow warriors, Toph followed him up to his room.
“So?” Toph asked when they were alone, standing in front of his door.
“So what.” Sokka repeated, pointedly not looking at her.
She punched the wall. “Don’t ‘ so what ’ me. You know what. I don’t know what. Why are you mad at me? What’d I do? I thought all this was over when me and Katara talked things out. Now you’re mad at me? For what?”
Sokka’s eyebrows furrowed. “You really don’t know?” He asked angrily, with enough venom in his voice to surprise Toph.
“Know what ?! Why are you so mad ?! What did I do?!” Toph screamed, her voice rising in pitch with her frustration.
Suddenly, Sokka looked straight at her and advanced, pushing into her space and pushing his finger into her chest. “You backed down .” He growled. “You don’t want to teach, ” He spat the word out like poison. “I know you, Toph Beifong. You’ve squeezed out metalbending for all it’s worth and now you want more. You want to discover more types of earthbending because that’s who you are. You’re not the person to hold yourself back for other people, especially not other people you don’t even know for a subject you’re already bored with!”
Startled, she stepped back, but immediately cleared her mind and smacked Sokka’s hand out of the way. “And what the hell is that supposed to mean? I am Toph Beifong. I can do whatever I wanna do! If I say I want to teach metalbending I’m gonna do it.” She growled out that last sentence.
Sokka looked down at her, and even without seeing, Toph felt it was with pity. “Yeah. You’re Toph Beifong and you can do whatever you want.” His voice was suddenly drained of its earlier energy. “But are you gonna be happy doing it? Because from where I’m standing, it just looks like you're scared.” Toph stiffened. “You’re scared, and your metalbending school is where you can run away and hide.”
“I’m not scared,” Toph said, puffing out her chest. “I am the greatest earthbender in the world. I’m-”
“Toph Beifong,” Sokka repeated in the same tired tone. “Yeah. I know. You’re Toph Beifong, fourteen year old girl who defeated one of the worst people in all of history and has no idea how to process how traumatizing the last battle was. The last battle where we both almost died.”
Sokka yawned, covering his mouth with his hand. “It’s okay to be scared. I still get nightmares about it. My leg hurts whenever it gets too hot. And it’s okay that you’re scared to try new forms of earthbending because you thought your metalbending wasn’t enough to save us when it counted. But Toph-” He eyed her intensely. “That’s exactly why you need to keep learning. You’ve already mastered metalbending. Now you’ve got to find a new style that does help in moments like those.”
Toph stuttered. “I–”
“If you’re not ready, that’s cool. If you want to take a break, if you really want to teach metalbending, no one’s stopping you. Just don’t kid yourself that it’s what will satisfy you.”
“Sokka, I–”
He patted her head. “Goodnight, Toph. I’ll see you in the morning.”
On the day they’re scheduled to leave, Sokka and Aang cry more than Toph has ever known. Sokka, literally blubbering on Suki and refraining himself from begging her to come join them by crying so hard he smudges her makeup, and Aang, clinging to Toph like a lifeline.
“I know you have to go,” Aang said, sniffling. “But do you have to go? I mean, you could still come with us and we could be extras on your journey. Katara can do literally everything and I can get… like, spirit help. We can make it work.”
Toph smiled and patted his head. “Tempting, Twinkle Toes, but it’s a hard no.”
Katara smiled too. “Let her be, Aang. She’s going to be teaching other people, just like she did you. We won’t be too much help with that.”
“Actually…” Toph said, voice trailing. “I’m not going to teach anyone metalbending. Well, not now, at least.” Immediately, she felt Katara stiffen and Sokka turn his head away from Suki and towards her.
“You…” Sokka started. “You’re not teaching?” His voice was light; giddy with happiness.
“Nope! You were right. I have so much more earthbending left to do. Can’t get so stuck on metalbending. It’s already so old school, you know? So pre-Fire Lord Zuko. Bleh.”
“But!” Katara jumped in. “But you’re the only person who knows how to metalbend! It’s your duty to teach it to other people!”
“And I will, Sugar Queen. When the time is right. But for now, I’m taking Sokka and we’re gonna do some more earthbending.”
“Wha- Sokka!” Aang cried. “You’re going too?”
Sokka gave a final kiss to Suki and bumped fists with Toph. “Guess so. Why, you gonna miss me?”
“Of course I’m gonna miss you! You’re my best friend!” Aang whined, now latching on to Sokka and crying into his shirt. Sokka froze at the words, then angled his head to look at Zuko.
“HA!” Sokka shouted, pointing wildly at Zuko. “HA HA HA HAHAHA!”
“Shut up,” Zuko said tersely. Sokka didn’t stop laughing, Aang didn’t stop crying into Sokka’s shirt. “Sokka, I said shut up .”
Behind them, Katara looked at Toph. “You’re really going to travel the world with my idiot brother to invent another form of earthbending?”
Toph snorted. “What’d you expect I’d do? Go back to teaching or something?”
Katara let out a soft chuckle and hugged her. “So… what are Sokka and Zuko laughing about?”
“Oh, well, they each thought they were Aang’s best friend. But he just said it was Sokka, so I guess Zuko’s a little sore.”
Katara looked down at her. “Of course it’d be Sokka. We literally traveled the world together. He always challenges Aang in a way that makes him remember who he is and where he’s from.”
Toph, pondering their conversation from the other night, made a noise of agreement. “I guess you're right.”
“Zuko!” Aang cried from the other side of the courtyard. “Come back! You’re my friend too, I didn’t mean it!”
“It’s too late!” He said, voice faint since he was already back inside the palace.
“No take backsies, Aang,” Sokka said. “I’m your best friend.”
Aang stepped back, looking up at Sokka heavily. “I can’t believe you’re really going to go. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like traveling without you.”
Sokka smirked, but he felt sincere. “Super boring and bland. You’ll only have my sister’s humor to rely on.”
“How awful. To think you’d leave me with just that. You’re too cruel, Sokka.”
“Hey!” Katara cried. “I heard that!”
Aang and Sokka sniggered at each other. “I love you too, schnookums!”
“Don’t worry,” Sokka said, patting Aang’s head and pulling him down for a noogie. “You’ll get bored in a month and come find us to remember what it feels like to have fun. By that time, Toph will have invented, like, starbending or something. And I’ll be… uh, oh! I’ll be super buff! Arm muscles, you know?”
“Yeah, I know.” Aang looked at Sokka, “Bye, Sokka.”
“Bye, Aang. Take care of yourself. And my sister.”
Aang and Katara lept on to Appa. Katara sitting on Appa’s back alone suddenly made her look so much smaller.
Sokka and Toph stood in the courtyard until Appa was out of Sokka’s eyesight.
“Ready for an adventure, Captain Boomerang?”
Katara shuffled down, snuggling up next to Aang at Appa’s head. “So…” She started, smiling playfully. “Is Sokka really your favorite out of the two?”
Aang pulled a sour face. “Don’t make me choose!” He whined. “I said Sokka because he was leaving and it just slipped out! I love them both, I didn’t mean to hurt Zuko’s feelings!”
“Well, his feelings are definitely hurt now.”
In a panic, Aang straightened. “Should we go back? I need to apologize properly, we should go back.”
Katara rolled her eyes. “Stop making up excuses to go see Zuko. We’ll see him again for the Comet’s anniversary soon. Besides, if you went to see Zuko now, you’d have to tell him Sokka isn’t your best friend and it seems like you just can’t do that.”
Aang blushed. “They’re both my friends! And they’re both too dramatic. They’re both demoted; Katara, you’re my new best friend.”
She rolled her eyes. “Please. As if I wasn’t already.”
“So, where to first? Climbing to the top of a volcano? Swimming to a tiny Fire Island? Serpent's Pass 2.0?” Sokka asked, brimming with enthusiasm. Toph stuck her hand out, stopping him in his tracks.
“Slow your roll there, Snoozles. Did you forget I don’t swim? Also, why go travel all the way back to the Earth Kingdom for the Serpent’s Pass ?”
Sokka shrugged and grumbled meekly.
“Here’s what we’re gonna do.” Toph said, suddenly taking Sokka’s travel bag and rummaging through it.
“Wha- HEY!” He sputtered, wrangling it back into his grasp. Toph let out a victorious cheer as she pulled a scroll out from his bag.
“We’re going to use your new fancy map-”
“That’s not the map.” Sokka deadpanned.
Toph sighed, shoulders dropping. “Why do I even try anymore. Whatever! Get out your map, I’ve got an idea.”
He rolled open his map of the Fire Nation, holding it open for her as if she would actually read it.
“Okay. I’m going to point somewhere on this map, and then you’ll tell me about it, and then we’ll go from there.” She nodded her head decisively, already growing attached to her tiny semblance of a plan. Sokka rolled his eyes.
“Whatever you say, Oh Great One.”
“Snuff the sarcasm, Sokka.” She pushed her finger down to the northwestern corner of the map. “What’s over here?”
Sokka looked down at her finger. “Ocean."
“Here?” She had only moved her finger slightly to the right.
“Uh, still ocean.”
“Here?”
“Ocean again.”
“Ugh! Here ?”
Sokka sighed and grabbed Toph’s wrist, moving her finger until it was resting on the west coast line. “How about here?” He asked her.
“Not… ocean?”
“Not ocean,” He agreed. “Volcano land.”
Toph grinned sharply. “Volcano land. Sick.”