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Magma: Volcano II

Eruption 11: Food Fight

The customer, whose clothes were soaked in hot soup, grabbed a chicken leg from her sibling's plate and started hitting the waitress on the head with it. The waitress slapped the chicken leg away, causing it to go flying and collide with the chest of a young woman sitting in a neighboring table with her boyfriend.

Trying not to laugh, the young man picked up a napkin and attempted to help clean the barbeque sauce off his date. With the war cry of "pervert!" the young woman punched her date in the nose, effectively breaking it, and sending the poor man tumbling down.

The man tried to hold on to the edge of the table to avoid the painful fall. His hand rested on a spoon placed at the edge of a large bowl of ice-cream they had been happily sharing not so long ago. The spoon served as a catapult, sending a scoop of ice-cream flying into the face of a muscular man in the next table.

The strong, tall, muscular man angrily got up and picked up the younger man by the shirt. Upset that someone other than her was about to beat up her boyfriend, the young woman delivered a sift kick to the muscular man's behind with her odd pointy shoes.

The large muscular man screamed like a little girl and ran around in circles holding his behind. He ran into another waitress who was dumbly staring at the show. The tray she was holding went flying, with the meal falling all over the place and the dessert, a banana split, landed on Zuko's head.

The fire bender angrily got up, but the Avatar was quick to stand in his way. "Calm down Zuko. Remember how you said you didn't want to draw your power from anger anymore?"

"I didn't have ice-cream on my head when I said that!" Zuko yelled in Aang's face.

Aang stepped back and swallowed. Katara felt the need to intervene. "If you would just stay calm, I'm sure there's a better solution for all of this."

"You're right, and I know what that solution is," Sokka had a serious expression, with the glow of hidden genius in his eyes. But the expectations for a smart solution were soon dissolved when Sokka tossed his steak into the air. "Food fight!" Everything went into chaos from there.

Aang felt the need to help restore peace to the restaurant, since he was the Avatar. But it backfired and he ended up covered in everything from hot sauce to ice-cream. They decided that it was best to let the chaos calm down by itself and escaped while they still could.

A short distance away from the restaurant, the Avatar's group was leaving of trail of pieces of food as they walked and brushed it off their bodies. Their clothes, especially Aang's, would be terribly stained, they were sure of it. Being the resident water bender, Katara often did the laundry; she certainly wasn't looking forward to that.

"I want your banana." Toph was the first to break the silence.

A young man who was passing by overheard and stared at the young girl with wide eyes.

Zuko realized that the banana from the ice-cream dessert was still sitting on his head. All those hours in the past of practicing walking like a prince with books on his head gave him the ability to walk around with a banana, or another item, on his head without dropping it.

The random passer by laughed and shook his head, then continued on his way, smiling about some obscure joke that no one else caught.

Zuko took the banana and quietly gave it to Toph who ate it.

They stopped in front of a small food stall and got some snacks, since they didn't get to finish their meal. "What are you ordering, Toph? They have-"

"I know, I can smell it," Toph interrupted Aang's question. "I think I'm alright with what I ate at the restaurant and the banana." Unlike the others, Toph had witnessed the series of events that started the food fight with her earth bending and continued her meal while doing so. The others had left their food unattended to stare at the domino effect that ended in a massive food fight.

Those who wished to finish filling up their stomachs, bought some food to eat along the way, plus edible supplies for later. "Are you sure you don't want to eat either?" Aang noticed Zuko didn't seem to have any intentions of ordering something.

"I'm not in the mood to eat anymore," Zuko replied with a pout.

"You being cranky is not good, and most likely not safe," Sokka shoved a small fruit salad bowl into Zuko's hands. "Have a fruit salad!"

The fire bender managed to mutter a thank you and follow the group as they continued out of town and hopped on Appa.

In mid air, Zuko thought of a great way to relieve his bad mood, taking revenge on Toph. She was a bit surprised to feel a cool piece of fruit pressed against her lips. "Try it, it's good."

Toph could sense Zuko's challenge. He was stubborn and refused to give up, she should have known. She gracefully ate the piece of apple, lips gently brushing his fingers, and she thought she felt him tense up at the contact. Honestly, Zuko was too easy to read, being close made him nervous, it was so obvious.

Toph decided to remind him just who was going to win their secret little war and scooter closer resting her head on his shoulder. "Pretty good, but you need to eat too." Toph reached for the salad bowl and missed it on purpose, instead tracing Zuko's hand around the bowl. She felt his grip start to loosen and took the bowl before he dropped it.

That's how it went the entire way back, with Toph and Zuko feeding each other. Zuko realized that he was getting too nervous around Toph, and vowed to break her nerves of steal. The first step was to put an arm around her shoulders and hold her close. Zuko thought Toph would have to start feeling awkward eventually; she simply had to, but she did not.

Eruption 12: How to Bathe a Lemur

Once Zuko, Toph, Aang, Katara, Sokka, Momo and Appa were back in their temple home, they retreated to their respective rooms and changed into some clean clothes, except Momo and Appa who didn't really need to wear anything, but they still needed to get cleaned up.

The dirty clothes were placed in a basket, which Katara reluctantly picked up. She eyed Aang and decided it was time for some water bending training. "Aang you're helping me do the laundry, it will be part of your water bending training."

"Aw, but I was going to bathe Appa." Doing the laundry was one of Aang's least favorite chores, and the down side to being able to bend water. Water benders often ended up with water related chores.

"Sokka can bathe Appa." Katara reasoned, much to her brother's dismay; though the water tribe warrior dared not protest when faced with his sister's glare.

"Then who's going to bathe Momo? You know how he gets at bath time." Aang tried once again to slip away from the chore of doing laundry. It would be especially bad with all the stains.

"We'll do it!" Toph immediately volunteered herself and Zuko.

"What?" The fire bender was not exactly pleased with his assigned task.

"Shut up dancing dragon, it's better than scrubbing stains off clothes." Toph had a point, if they already had an assigned task, then they wouldn't have to help deal with the laundry.

"Alright then it's decided," Katara agreed and dragged Aang off to do the laundry.

Sokka grumbled about having a bigger pet to bathe and not having any help, but as Momo squeaked and took to the skies, he realized that maybe bathing Appa would be easier after all. At least the sky bison actually liked to be groomed.

"So, how are we going to catch him?" Zuko had a good question indeed.

Toph shrugged. "How should I know, I can't really see him if he's flying around." Toph was so independent and capable; it was easy to forget that she couldn't see with her eyes and used earth bending to get around. But if the lemur they were trying to catch was not in contact with the ground or anything connected to it, then it would be very hard for Toph to stop him.

"You're the one who volunteered us so you have to help!" First Toph dragged him into the chore, and now she was apparently leaving him to deal with it alone. Zuko would not accept that.

"Fine, just tell me which way Momo went," thus began the wild chase to catch the sticky lemur.

Their strategy was simple, Zuko would be the eyes of the operation, and Toph would close the vertical distance between them and Momo with towers of earth. This resulted in a seemingly endless field of towers sticking out of the ground, a very frustrated Zuko and an almost tired Toph, but not quite.

"He's getting away!" Zuko pointed at Momo, then realized it was useless. "Up and to the right."

"Enough of this, Momo can bathe himself." Toph was sick of chasing after Momo and she was not going to continue doing so.

"You're the one who volunteered," Zuko reminded her.

"This isn't working, Momo flies too fast and you don't give me directions fast enough. We have to find another way," Toph started to think of possible traps.

"I have an idea," Zuko announced. "Get some berries or something as bait and I'll set up the trap."

"What kind of trap is it?" Toph asked.

"One that will work," Zuko assured her.

A few minutes later, Toph had brought the berries and Zuko had the trap all set up. "Here's the bait."

"Good, because the trap is done," Zuko admired his work, he had placed a stick on the edge of a box, keeping it up with enough room for Momo to slip in for the berries. There was a small rope tied to the stick, which would trigger the trap, causing the box to fall on Momo, trapping him inside. Zuko was thankful that Toph couldn't see the trap, because his masterpiece didn't look half as good in real life as it did in his head. Even so, Zuko thought it was worth a try. "Okay, now we have to hide and wait for Momo to come get the berries."

"We can hide inside this hollow bolder," Toph suggested.

"What boulder?" A hollow boulder would be an odd thing to find, and Zuko didn't see any boulders with holes in them. There were plenty of boulders, but none looked hollow.

"This one," Toph made the boulder with Earth bending. It was of a similar size to the surrounding boulders, but it had a hollow space on the inside. Toph and Zuko crawled into the boulder, and Toph closed it, leaving a small space open so Zuko could keep an eye on the trap and pull the rope.

"There's not a lot of space here," Zuko would have shifted uncomfortably, but there wasn't even enough room to do that.

"Are you claustrophobic?" Toph teased.

Zuko was thankful that he wasn't claustrophobic, or else Toph would surely use that against him, and she could tell if he lied about it. "No, I was just saying that there's not a lot of space here."

"If I make the boulder too big it'll be obvious, and one more thing," Toph leaned close to Zuko's ear, which didn't take a lot since they were already very close to each other. "Boulders don't talk."

Her warm breaths so close gave Zuko an odd sensation, but it wasn't an unpleasant one; not unpleasant at all. He remained quiet and waited for Momo.

Luckily, the lemur didn't take too long to find the berries. However, Momo was a lot smarter than he was given credit for; he tossed the box aside, then sat down to eat the berries. He didn't even bother flying away with them, as if mocking his would be captors.

"Momo disabled the trap," Zuko whispered.

"Some trap that must have been," Toph didn't really have high expectations for the trap to work, but she played along with it anyway.

"We could still catch him if we surprise him," Zuko wasn't going to leave his assigned task unfinished, and he knew Toph was pretty determined too. They would keep at it until they won.

Toph earth bent them free of the boulder and Zuko jumped on Momo. He landed ungracefully on the ground, as Momo slipped away once again and flew high above them, making little noises that sounded like he was laughing.

It was mother nature who would stop Momo's mocking laughter and end Zuko and Toph's mission. Water poured from the skies in a sudden outburst of rain, soaking Momo, Toph and Zuko. It was then that they decided that the best way to bathe a lemur was to wait until it got caught in the rain.

Eruption 13: Nurse Toph

Even if he was a fire bender and he was buried under three thick blankets, Zuko was freezing cold. Being exposed to the cold air from the altitude of the temple had not been the healthiest thing to do in wet clothes, but since Zuko had let his laundry pile up, all his clothes were wet. He thought they would be dry by the time he needed to change again, and he would wear his last clean set of clothes until then, but he wasn't counting on the rain.

"Hey," Toph entered without knocking.

Zuko ducked under the covers until he realized that Toph couldn't see his watery eyes, red nose, and the overall pitiful state he was in. "What are you doing here," he peeked out, noticing the tray she was carrying.

"Katara was having a motherly moment and made soup for her sick child," Toph mocked. "She said I should bring it to you, and feed you. I'm just bring it to you," honestly, there was no need for the entire romantic act to embarrass each other if there was no one else to witness it. Sure it was still fun to tease Zuko, but it was more fun with an audience.

Zuko didn't even have the energy to snap a come back, so he simply muttered a "thanks."

Toph placed the tray of food on the night stand then felt Zuko's forehead for a fever like Katara instructed. "Even if you are a fire bender, I really don't think your forehead is supposed to be this hot."

"I'm freezing," Zuko held the blankets tightly around himself. He imagined that his body heat being drained away would feel something like this, but worse.

"You're a living contradiction," Toph concluded, she shrugged and started to walk out of the room. "Get well soon, see ya."

Zuko made no efforts to stop her. The fire bender didn't want to be seen in that state anyway, except by his uncle, he really won't mind being taken care of right now and his uncle was the only one he wouldn't be embarrassed around. Zuko really missed Iroh.

"I'm back," Toph announced, once again entering Zuko's room without knocking, and speaking when she was already inside.

"Did you forget something?" Zuko asked between sniffles.

"No, Katara sent me to take care of you," that was a lie, but Toph was the one who could sense lies, not Zuko. She wondered why she lied about it, and why she returned at all. Maybe she wanted to make sure Zuko was alright, but she didn't understand why. Toph pushed the thoughts away and told herself that she was only concerned about someone who is a part of their group and nothing more. Besides, she didn't have anything better to do, and teasing Zuko was fun. "She said it was best for your girlfriend to take care of you."

"I don't have the energy to get annoyed," Zuko tried to sleep, but that resulted boring to Toph.

"You're not going to get better if you sleep all day. You have no idea how pitiful you are right now," Toph decided to bait Zuko until he snapped and was back to his old self, or rather new self.

"You've never been sick and stuck in bed?" As far as Zuko knew, bad colds happened to everyone and the flu had no mercy.

"I've been sick, no one is safe from the common cold, but I wasn't this pitiful about it." Toph sounded challenging but Zuko wasn't responding and it was starting to make her feel frustrated. "Well? Aren't you getting up?"

"No," Zuko muttered in a sleepy tone.

Footsteps were heard followed by Katara's voice calling Toph. The water bender stopped in front of the Zuko's room, the door had been left open and she noticed Toph was there. "Toph, you didn't come back so I thought you were running away from the chores again. I guess you wanted to stay with Zuko, it's alright then. I'll take your chores for today so you can stay with him." Katara smiled and left, before either Zuko or Toph could protest.

"I thought you said Katara sent you." Zuko reminded.

"I was..." Toph thought about it quickly, "I was just trying to escape from doing chores. I didn't want to get stuck with my usual chores and yours."

Zuko felt as if he was somehow recovering his fiery spirit, at least enough to reply to Toph's challenge. It was pointless to try to embarrass her if there was no one to witness it, and even then it didn't seem to work, but he would try it anyway. "Are you sure you just didn't secretly want to spend time with me?"

"Of course not!" Toph wasn't sure about it herself, but she wasn't going to admit anything, true or not.

"Are you sure? Maybe you've come to like me for real," Zuko felt that, for once, he was actually winning.

"Don't be ridiculous," Toph turned away, expression revealing annoyance.

"Then why are you so angry? This never bothered you before?" Zuko had a point and he knew, so did Toph, but she wouldn't admit it.

The truth was, Toph herself didn't fully understand why she suddenly got angry, but Zuko had taken the lead in their little game and she could not allow that. "Maybe that's why you want, but it's only wishful thinking I assure you."

"You mean your wishful thinking?" Zuko grinned, he might be sick but, he was feeling stronger than ever after taking the lead in Toph's own game.

"Just eat your soup, if your mouth is full then maybe you won't talk," Toph couldn't see Zuko, but she knew he was grinning victoriously, she just knew it.

"I thought you would feed it to me, love." In the start of their war, Zuko wouldn't be so direct, but things have evolved and both their moves had become bolder, trying to push each other over the edge.

Toph took Zuko's statement as a challenge. She was certainly not too embarrassed or nervous to accomplish feeding the sickly fire bender without losing her perfect poker face. With renewed determination, Toph picked up the bowl of soup and sat at the edge of the bed. Zuko didn't think she would actually do it, but she did feed him the meal more gently and patiently than he thought she would. To Toph it was a challenge and she had to prove she could do it.

Eruption 14: False Assumptions Come True

Zuko's cold was gone, but now Toph had it. The prince had heard people say that the best way to get rid of a cold was to give it someone, they couldn't be more right.

"You did it on purpose," Toph accused Zuko, ending the sentence with a sniffle.

"I would love to take the credit, but I don't think it's possible to decide to give away a cold, it just happens." Of course Zuko didn't mention that he had been wishing to give Toph his cold all along.

"Well, at least I'm not a baby about it," being a tough girl was a twenty-four seven job, and Toph was not going to let it go just because of a cold.

The day went by normally, until Katara quietly told Zuko they needed to talk. Toph sneaked away from Aang and Sokka to follow them, curious about what Katara needed to say.

"You love Toph, don't you?" Katara asked.

Zuko was already dreading the conversation. "Yes," none the less he remained firm in his decision to win.

"That's great but don't forget there are certain responsibilities involved in a relationship," with every word Katara said, Zuko wanted more and more to disappear. Neither the fire bender, nor the water bender realized that Toph was listening to the conversation.

"Yeah," Zuko looked away, if Katara knew how to take a hint, she would realize he did not want to talk about it.

Katara noticed his discomfort but continued anyway. "Toph being able to see through earth bending and tact is fine, but she has a cold now and she's reckless. She won't rest or eat her soup; it's obvious she got that cold from you. I didn't mention it before but, take it slowly with her."

Zuko just kept nodding and muttering "yeah," hoping that Katara would be done with her advice quickly.

"I suppose you could say it's your responsibility in way." Katara continued her speech. "Believe me; I know what it's like to be the oldest in the relationship. I know Toph is very independent and outgoing, but take it slowly with the, you know, making out."

Zuko's face turned bright red, and Toph went through great efforts not to laugh out loud feeling his heartbeats speed up. "I wasn't... I didn't... we... It's not like that!" Zuko struggled to find the proper explanation without giving out and revealing the truth, yet somehow avoiding more extreme misunderstandings.

"Anyway, that's all I needed to say. You should stay with Toph and make sure she's alright. See if you can get her to rest and eat her soup," Katara left, thinking that she had been of great help.

Zuko tried to somehow make his face return to its normal colors, his thoughts were running away with him and he didn't want that to happen. Images of Katara's assumptions about Zuko and Toph, floated in his head, refusing to leave him alone.

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The day continued to flow slowly. Zuko trained Aang in fire bending. The training helped Zuko relax a little, letting the fire flow out freely yet with precise control.

When dinner time rolled around, the group had noodles, a fact which Toph was thankful for, since she was tired of refusing Katara's vegetable soup all day and was starting to think the water bender would make everyone eat it, just to get Toph to eat it.

It was then that Toph grinned evilly. She looked at the noodles, then at Zuko. If they shared the noodles then not only would she embarrass him in front of everyone, but with some luck, she might return the cold he gave her.

Zuko miraculously caught the hint and avoided looking at Toph for fear of his imagination running away with him. She scooted closer and rested her head on his shoulder. He retained his poker face for just a few moments longer before being unable to look away. Zuko noticed that Toph was only teasing him, and that maybe she wasn't planning to go as far as share the noodles ending in a kiss. Maybe she just wanted to bother him, and it was working so far, but he wouldn't allow it to work any longer. Zuko waited a few minutes and continued eating in silence. So far, Toph had not made her move. He took some noodles with the chop sticks and offered her one end.

Toph was surprised to see that Zuko had taken her idea and actually used it. She was the one who gave him that idea, she started it and she would finish it. There was no way Toph would chicken out of her own plan. She accepted the noodles and ate them slowly, with Zuko making equally slow progress on the other side.

Katara considered pointing out that they would spread the cold that way, and that they had an audience, which had not stopped them in the past, but still. However, the water bender didn't say a word.

Zuko and Toph paused expectantly, as if waiting for Katara to say what she was going to say. Or for anyone at all to say something; then they could break the noodles with the interruption and that would be the end of it, but nobody spoke.

Neither Zuko nor Toph backed down, and slowly continued eating the noodles until their lips met. Eyes closed, hearts beating rapidly, for a short time they forgot that they were challenging each other, and felt as if deep down this was something they both wanted, and they enjoyed it.

Eruption 15: Avoidance

After spending some time apart, too sick to tease each other, as the cold did spread between Zuko and Toph again; the fire bender and the earth bender were finally healed. Time was progressing quietly for them; it was as if they shared an unspoken truce, and at the same time went out of their way to avoid each other.

Not surprisingly, Katara was the first to catch on, and expressed her concern to Sokka and Aang. They agreed that she should talk to Toph and they would talk to Zuko.

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"Hey Toph, can we talk?" Katara tried to sound casual, but it didn't quite work.

"Is something wrong?" Toph immediately asked, sensing Katara's worry. She expected a speech about how they all needed to contribute and all tat stuff, though Toph didn't think she had forgotten any chores lately, nor had she done anything to trigger Katara's maternal instincts, other than kissing Zuko the other day, but if that was it Katara wouldn't have waited this long before saying something about it.

"No, not really, but I actually wanted to ask you the same question." Katara sat down at the edge of an old fountain which she had earlier refilled with water when they made the ancient temple their home.

Toph knew that Katara wanted her to sit down as well, but she remained standing as if saying she intended the chat to be short. "I'm perfectly fine."

Katara knew that Toph would sooner leave, than follow the conversation where the water bender wanted it to go, unless she directly stated the point herself. "I noticed you and Zuko haven't been spending a lot of time together. Did you have a fight?"

Toph couldn't help it but to laugh. "Believe me if we had a fight, there's no way you could have missed it."

Katara wasn't sure she should be worried about Toph's reply or glad they didn't have a fight. She decided to stay positive and focused on the latter. "Then why...?"

Toph wondered about what was going on herself. It was a strange silent agreement between her a Zuko, as if they were both concluding their little war in a draw. But it couldn't end like that, Toph wouldn't allow. It would all end only when Zuko gave up. "We're just taking slowly that's all. It's not like we broke up or anything."

"Oh, well I'm glad," Katara realized that sometimes she did worry too much. They were just taking a break and slowing things down, it was best that way, nothing to worry about.

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Zuko was training when Sokka and Aang approached him. The prince ceased his fire bending and faced the other two. For a moment he felt like a small creature, trapped between two predators, but he pushed the thoughts away. An awkward silence was starting to settle and Zuko didn't like it. "Hi?" was the only thing he could think of saying to end it.

"Hi," Aang replied with a big smile, and for a moment Zuko relaxed.

That moment of relaxation did not last too long, for Sokka's next line sent the fire bender to full alert. "We need to talk." The phase was often followed by bad news.

There was something about that phrase, those four little words, that brought the foreboding feeling of certain doom. Why couldn't people learn not to start a conversation like that? "About what?"

"Girls," Sokka placed a hand on Zuko's shoulder and they both sat down on rocks to have another man to man talk. "We noticed you and Toph are not as lovey-dovey as you were not too long ago. You need to do something about it. You see, girls like all that romantic stuff; you need to give her attention, a few flowers now and then, all that girly romantic stuff. Even if Toph is kind of a tomboy, she needs it too."

Just when Zuko thought he could catch a break, the world turned against him. It wasn't fair; he was being tortured not only by Toph, but by everyone else as well; mostly by Toph though. But it wasn't fair that she had so much help, even if they didn't realize what was going on. "Toph and I are..." Zuko paused and wondered if he should confess about the immature game going on between them. He knew that the group would not take it well. In fact they might accuse him of playing with Toph's feelings, even if she was in on it too. Zuko realized that his position in the entire ordeal was as bad as it cold be. "We're just fine, just taking things slowly that's all."

"Really? Then you didn't break up?" Relief was evident in Aang.

"No, we're still together," Zuko realized that he would be 'with Toph' for as long as she continued their little war. The entire thing was set up for her to win; but he was both determined and stubborn and even if in the end, if it ever reached an end, she won, he would not make it easy; and maybe, just maybe, he would get back at her in a sufficient and satisfying way.

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"Sokka and Aang went to talk to me today," Zuko revealed the day's events to Toph when the two were alone, away from the group.

"Katara had a talk with me too; I guess they're just worried about our 'relationship'." Toph used the term loosely, not only because of the way it all started, but because in all honesty she wasn't sure where it all stood, and she had a feeling that neither was Zuko.

"Is it okay to go on like this?" Zuko asked.

Toph paused, sensing his sincerity. "You admit defeat then? Alright, I guess it can end since I won. We'll tell them we decided to have some time apart, since it sounds much nicer than to say 'break up' and that we'll remain friends. They'll forget about the entire thing eventually and that'll be the end of it."

Zuko knew he could get out of this relatively easy, but he couldn't lose like that. "I can't accept those terms."

"Why not? You still won't admit defeat?" Toph felt the sensation of disappointment from a moment ago start to fade away. She wasn't sure why she was happy that Zuko wasn't giving up, but told herself it was only because of the fun and nothing more.

"I'll settle for a draw," Zuko didn't understand why deep down he would prefer if Toph refused. It was supposed to be in his best interest if she agreed, yet somehow he didn't want her to.

"Unacceptable," Toph smiled in a mixture of amusement and challenge, a gesture which Zuko returned.

Eruption 16: The Cave of Two Lovers

"You call that fire bending? That's pitiful!" Aang stepped back as Zuko gave him some 'constructive criticism'. Sokka, who was watching their training laughed.

"I'm trying! I really am!" Aang tried to excuse his poor performance in the training. He was supposed to be improving, but he was actually taking one step forward and two steps back. "It's just that I've been training for days and days and days without rest, and... well..."

Zuko was following a style similar to Toph's in motivating Aang, except much louder. "There is no excuse, you're just weak!"

Once again Sokka laughed, louder than before.

Finally, Zuko turned towards the water tribe boy and glared. "What's so funny?"

Sokka laughed out loud, receiving strange looks from Zuko and Aang. "You are! You sound like some kind of fire nation general or something, yelling at his soldiers."

Zuko was not happy with the comparison. "Do not compare me a heartless military general who doesn't care about sacrificing thousands of innocent lives just to-" He stopped, noting Sokka's look of surprise.

The group had realized that Zuko could be a little more sensitive than they initially thought. "I didn't..." Sokka hasn't said that much, but the comparison was apparently a sensitive spot for the fire bender.

"Let's take a break," Aang suggested. "We're all tired and cranky from all this training. Let's go somewhere; we need a change of scenery."

"Where could we go that doesn't look too suspicious? If we're seen-" Zuko could not finish, for he was thrown into the air by the earth itself.

"That is for being so loud," Toph's hearing was sensitive, and she could hear Zuko loud and clear, despite the distance at opposite ends of the temple. She decided to go over there and shut him up.

"See? Even Toph is cranky!" Aang pointed out, and earned himself a similar earth toss.

"But Toph is always cranky," Zuko knew he was literally standing on dangerous ground. Teasing Toph to try to embarrass her was one thing, but angering her was a death wish.

Instead of using her earth bending against Zuko again, Toph covered her face with her hands and made crying noises.

Sokka and Aang glared daggers at Zuko. "How could you be so mean?" Aang yelled.

"Yeah! Toph gave you her heart, forgave you for being such a jerk in the past, gave you a chance even after you burned her feet, and this is how you repay her?" Sokka joined the guilt trip and accusations against Zuko.

"I didn't mean to!" Zuko rushed past Aang and Sokka towards Toph. "I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to offend you." Strange, her crying sounded kind of funny, it sounded like muffled laughter. "You're laughing aren't you?"

Toph couldn't hide any longer and let her laughter ring out, while Sokka and Aang stared in surprised. "Do you really think I would get all dramatic over something like that? Being over sensitive is his job," Toph pointed at Zuko, poking him in the process.

"I'm not over sensitive!" Zuko pouted, not realizing how funny he looked.

xoxox xox xoxox

As the days rolled by, it was agreed that the group really needed a change of scenery. They decided to visit a place that was not too crowded, but could be somewhat entertaining.

"Why do we have to go to that cave? I rather stay at the temple," Sokka was not looking forward to visiting the cave of two lovers again. Not only was it the place where he got stuck with a bunch of annoying bards in the past, but he didn't have anyone to do on a date with him. He wondered where Suki was and what she was doing.

"Don't be so negative Sokka; it'll be a good experience to there again. Plus we already know how to find our way out so we won't get lost. All we have to do is put out the lights and follow the glowing crystals," Katara tried to give her brother some of her optimism, but it wasn't working.

"For once I agree with Sokka," Zuko voiced his disproval of their destination. "Why can't we go someplace else? What's so great about a cave with glowing crystals anyway?"

"It's the cave of two lovers, you and Toph could go on a date there!" Katara had no idea how odd it sounded to go on a date to a cave.

Zuko looked almost offended. "Don't you think I could do a little better than that?"

"Aw c'mon, maybe we'll even see the earth bending badgermoles again," Aang's comment caught Toph's attention.

"I'll go!" Toph had learned earth bending from the originals, the badgermoles. It would be good to meet more of them. So it was settled, they flew on Appa towards the cave of two lovers.

xoxox xox xoxox

"I can't believe we're willing going in here," Sokka was followed by Appa and Momo; he was assigned as their caretaker for the visit.

"Relax, don't forget I can see this entire cave with earth bending," Toph reminded everyone. "If anyone gets lost I'll lead the rescue team."

Not too far from the entrance, the cave split into three tunnels. "How convenient," Sokka mused. It was too convenient in his opinion but he knew it would be useless to complain. Sokka went into the far left tunnel along with Appa and Momo. Aang and Katara went into the far right tunnel and Zuko and Toph entered the middle tunnel.

After a few minutes of walking, Toph decided to make her own short cut. Just as she expected, there were two badgermoles behind the wall of stone she opened.

The large animals approached them, and Zuko immediately took a battle stance, the badgermoles were too close for his liking. "Toph look out!" Zuko was certain one of the badgermoles was trying to attack Toph, and he would not allow it. He did not injure the earth bending animal, but the fire effectively scared it away.

"Zuko! Why did you do that?" Toph yelled; she felt the entire cave start to become unstable.

"It wanted to attack you!" They were unable to argue any further, for the earth beneath their feet opened up and swallowed them.

Eruption 17: Lovers' Spat

"This is all your fault," Toph had used her earth bending to break the fall, thus preventing injuries for Zuko and herself. But the fact still remained, that they were trapped underground.

"Everything is my fault," Zuko's statement carried both sarcasm and honesty.

"Don't go all emotional on me, let's just get out of here," Toph was clearly upset. She wanted to get to know the badgermoles, but Zuko had to scare them away with his thoughtless fire bending. Sure he was trying to protect her, but he was too jumpy and defensive, which made things complicated since a fire bender's defense is a strong and fast offence.

"Toph, I'm sorry," Zuko felt as if he had spent the most recent part of his life apologizing all the time. He apologized for chasing the avatar, sending an assassin after them, burning Toph's feet, accidentally stealing her body heat, and now scaring away her new earth bending friends and ending up falling deeper underground; a fate which passed without injuries only because of her skills and fast action. "I really am a disaster waiting to happen."

"Glad you admit it, now do the world a favor and keep your clumsy fire bending to yourself." Zuko did not say anything and Toph tried to earth bend a way out. She felt odd, as if something was blocking her abilities. Earth had always been a stubborn element, her stance was firm, and her energy was focused, but the earth felt a lot harder to move. Toph tried it anyway, and forced the earth to form a pillar, carrying them slowly up with vast effort. It took a lot just to keep the pillar up, and even more effort to open up the cave ceiling so they could reach the previously level. Toph practically never broke a sweat when she was earth bending, but now it was taking everything she had.

Zuko was standing next to Toph in the darkness, he said nothing, and dared not light the way with fire.

"Almost... ah!" The small opening in the ceiling rocks was closed, and Toph's pillar of earth sunk into the ground. "We're trapped," she announced.

"What's wrong? Did you lose your earth bending for some reason?" Zuko was concerned.

"I'm not as weak as you. I'm not the one who can't decide what to do with life, and I can actually control my bending. The badgermoles are angry, they're above using earth bending to keep us here. They're the original earth benders, and I'm outnumbered."

"But there has to be something you can do!" Toph had always been on top of any situation and Zuko couldn't imagine her being trapped by badgermoles.

"I wouldn't have to do anything if you haven't made enemies of those badgermoles!" Toph was looking forward to this and now it was ruined.

Zuko did not reply with anything but started to walk away.

"Where are you going, princess?" Toph half yelled, she didn't feel like babysitting an emotional fire bender.

"Away, the badgermoles are angry at me. If I'm gone they might let you out," Zuko replied.

"And you're just going to stay down here?" Toph knew that would be troublesome.

"Yeah," Zuko continued walking away in the darkness, occasionally coming close to losing his balance with the rocks and uneven terrain, but he didn't light a fire to see where he was going.

"Then who's going to teach Aang fire bending?" Toph brought up a valid point.

"Someone who actually knows how to fire bend," Zuko's footsteps became more distant and a wall of earth closed behind him, when he was far enough from Toph.

"Zuko!" forgetting her anger, and without wasting a second, Toph rushed to open the wall with her earth bending. She felt the badgermoles trying to counter her earth bending, but she forced the wall open and ran in. She remembered something she heard about badgermoles, their liking for music, but she did not carry any instruments. Then Toph remembered her singing lessons when she was little and how much she hated the repetition they involved until she got just the right note with her voice. "If you tell anyone what I'm about to do, I'll beat you up worse than the badgermoles could have!" Toph sang an old Earth Kingdom song, her voice calming the badgermoles enough to soothe their thirst for vengeance. The badgermoles retreated peacefully and Toph could no longer feel them trying to counter her earth bending. "We're safe now, and don't tell anyone about that."

"You saved my life and you're a really good singer," Zuko couldn't help it but to be amazed with Toph.

"You owe me one, actually more than just one, and you better keep this a secret. Honestly, you're like a child, always needing someone to take care of you," Toph was very independent.

As independent as Zuko may appear to be sometimes, he always had someone to take care of him. First his mother when he was a child, then his uncle after he lost his mother. His uncle continued to care for him after being banished from the Fire Nation, yet he left his uncle's side to try to recover his lost honor.

"Hey, why are you getting so emotional all of a sudden? I'm surprised you're not crying yet," Toph interrupted Zuko's angst filled thoughts.

"I made a lot of mistakes and I can't make it right. I wonder if it's best if I give up and stay out of the way." Zuko considered it, there had been many ups and downs, but it felt as if there had been more bad experiences than good; most of which he blamed himself for.

"You're not going to fix anything by just giving up," Toph reminded Zuko, she realized that he needed her, perhaps more than he knew.

"Then I'll keep trying," Zuko didn't sound too eager, but none the less he would stay with the Avatar's group and try to make things right somehow. "I'll just have to-ouch!"

Toph laughed. "You'll have to ouch?"

"I tripped; I can't see without a fire to light the way, but those badgermoles might come back and get angry again if I use fire, even if it's just a small flame to see where I'm going." Zuko got up and kept walking. He would just have to endure the darkness even if it bothered him.

"You big baby, give me your hand, I'll lead the way." They continued hand in hand, exploring the cave of two lovers.

Eruption 18: Realization

Zuko and Toph were almost out of the cave, they could see the light at the end of the tunnel, though they continued walking hand in hand, even if it was no longer needed. Then suddenly the cave's entrance was closed by the earth bending badgermoles.

"Don't tell me I have to sing again," Toph soon realized the badgermoles were not angry. They appeared to be curious, and it occurred to her that they had a much more developed ability than her ability to tell if someone was lying. They could probably even sense emotions. "Your being upset is upsetting them."

"What do you mean? I thought they weren't angry at me anymore," Zuko asked in confusion.

"I'm pretty sure they can sense what we feel, heartbeats, breathing rhythm," Azula was different in that sense, she didn't care to distinguish between the truth or a lie, she didn't care if she was caught lying, and it was that indifference that made her heartbeats and breaths keep a steady rhythm even when telling the most ridiculous and obvious lies. Zuko could not hide his emotions like that, if he was easy to read for Toph, she would assume the badgermoles would read his emotions as easily as they could bend the earth around them.

"I'm too obvious, right?" Zuko had to admit, it was rather easy to see his emotions. "But if they can sense my emotions, then they should know I don't want to hurt them."

"I'm not sure what they're sensing but they don't want to let you go yet." Toph was puzzled by this situation. Zuko was sorry about scaring the badgermoles with his fire, and the flames had not actually hurt them. She was sure the badgermoles forgave Zuko, but now they didn't want him to leave and she didn't understand why.

"Why? What could be bothering them?" Zuko tried to think of a possibility. "You can sense if someone is telling a lie, and they can probably do it too. But if we're not lying then why are they still upset?"

An idea occurred to Toph, "deception..."

"Deception?" Just what did that mean?

"It's just a thought, but they might sense they we're deceiving someone," Toph explained her theory.

"Oh, that..." Zuko wasn't sure what to do about it, maybe there wasn't too much that could be done. "Fine then, you won. We can stop tricking everyone," his own words disappointed him, and somehow he felt like he would miss his complicated relationship with Toph, even if she purposely embarrassed him sometimes.

"They don't seem to be satisfied with that. Maybe it was something else all along," Toph wasn't sure about it, her theory was just a guess, but she thought it was a pretty good guess, still it wasn't a sure thing that it was the answer.

At that moment, like many times before, Zuko felt that he needed his uncle's guidance. He missed Iroh more than he could say and would give anything to be able to ask him what do to. Surely Iroh would have answer. Zuko tried to think of what his uncle would say, the uncle that was so much more like a father to him than Fire Lord Ozai had ever been. He searched for the answer, he thought of Toph and why she didn't just leave him in the cave. The Avatar needed a teacher but was that all?

Zuko realized that he wanted to be more than just Aang's fire bending teacher, he wanted true friends. He remembered Aang's words from that time when he saved the avatar disguised as the Blue Spirit. He wanted the avatar's group to think of him as a real friend, not someone they needed in their group because they had no one else to accomplish a certain task, and Toph, she was truly amazing. "I really admire you."

"Huh?" Toph was taken by surprise. "What's that all of a sudden?"

"It's true, you're the most amazing person I've ever met," It was a realization that floated in front of him who knows for how long before he saw it.

Toph could sense he was sincere, and a rush of emotion came to her. Why did it mean so much to hear those words? She knew she was talented, far from carrying false pride, the pride she felt for her abilities was real and that could be easily proven. But hearing Zuko express such things was...

The cave's exit was opened, the badgermoles appeared to be satisfied with Zuko's realization and let them go. The city of Omashu could be seen in the distance, with the Fire Nation banner at the entrance, symbolizing that the city had been overtaken. "They let us go."

"Is that all the wanted? To hear how cool I am?" Toph was actually thankful to the badgermoles for allowing her to her that. This was different from her previous crush on Sokka; the feelings were deeper, more complex, and almost confusing.

"Maybe that was all they wanted," or maybe they wanted Zuko to realize the truth. He did care about Toph, but how could it possibly work out? He decided to try not to think about it too much. He wished he could tell his uncle about it, Iroh was always encouraging him to find a date; except he never found the right girl back then. As he tried not to complicate his thoughts too much, Zuko remembered something. "I never saw the glowing crystals."

"Maybe the badgermoles hid them from us." Toph logically concluded. Then an old quote from the longer version of the Oma and Shu legend came to mind 'love is brightest is the dark' and she felt a warmth in her cheeks, and Zuko's curious gaze on her face; there was hope.

Eruption 19: Reunited

The group met outside the cave of two lovers, wondering why Toph and Zuko were the last to come out. They assumed the earth bending was Toph's doing, to ensure their privacy. Sokka, Momo and Appa had been the first out, following the crystals. Katara and Aang took a few detours and explored the cave a little, making it as far as the chamber of Oma and Shu; then they followed the crystals out of the cave.

They watched the city of Omashu in the distance, knowing it was not the right time to act, not matter how much they wanted to free the city. The group settled at the entrance to the cave, hidden from the path towards Omashu, and had a picnic. After their picnic, in which Zuko kept stealing glances of Toph, and she was thankful she could 'stare' as much as she wanted without even turning her heard towards him, the group got ready to make the trip back through the cave of two lovers.

Just as they were about to enter the cave, the saw a carriage arrive, traveling the long way around the caves instead of through the short-cut inside them. The carriage was made of wood, Toph could tell it was a carriage but she didn't know who was inside it.

The driver was covered by a hooded cloak, so no one knew who it was. Toph heard a suspicious whisper. "It's them, what do we do?" The driver was female, young, judging by the sound of her voice.

"Just keep going, they don't know it's us." Another female of a similar age replied.

"There's something suspicious about that carriage," at Toph's announcement, everyone hid behind some rocks near the cave and observed the carriage. It suddenly became noisy, as if someone whose mouth was covered and was unable to scream was trying to get their attention.

"They might have a prisoner," Zuko concluded.

"Zuko is with them," the young woman in the cloak spoke. Her voice sounded familiar. "What should we do?"

"Calm down," the second woman instructed. "Let's just hide the prisoner at Omashu like Azula said, then head back and tell her about this."

At the mention of Azula's name, Toph knew why the voices sounded so familiar. "Ty Lee and Mai are in that carriage!"

"But why did he betray us like that?" Ty Lee asked.

"Something about thinking it's the right thing to do. I didn't talk to him before he disappeared, he only left a letter," Mai replied.

Aang stepped forward. "We might not be able to free the entire city, but we can at least free that person." He was determined to try, and the group knew there was no stopping him.

They all ran out of hiding for the rescue mission, Toph stopped the carriage with her earth bending. "They know who we are!" The driver threw her cloak aside revealing herself to be Ty Lee. "Why are you with the Avatar's group? Why did you betray us after you got your honor back?" She yelled at Zuko.

"I lost more of my honor than ever before when I joined Azula, I'm trying to get it back the right way now," Zuko did doubt it for a moment.

Sokka has an unexplainable feeling about this. He couldn't wait and ran to the back of the carriage. "Suki!" The kyoshi warrior was chained and caged, a cloth tied over her mouth. Several knives were thrown at Sokka, but he was quick to draw his sword and block them.

Mai went out the front of the carriage and jumped off joining Ty Lee, "we've lost."

"You're giving up already?" Ty Lee still had some fighting spirit.

"We're outnumbered, overpowered, we lost, it's not worth it," Mai knew they couldn't win, and she wasn't want to throw away useless efforts.

"But what about Zuko! He betrayed us, you most of all. Are you going to let him get away with that?" Ty Lee was furious, for all the emotions Mai didn't feel, Ty Lee made up for it and more.

"What do you want me to do Ty Lee?" For once Mai raised her voice above the monotone. "He left a letter, apologized and made his own choice. Just drop the subject and forget about it." While the argument between the two fire nation girls continued, Sokka had freed Suki and was having a loving little reunion with her.

"I can't believe you Mai, he broke up with you and you're okay with it?" Ty Lee continued insisting that something must be done; she wasn't sure what, but something. She wanted the little fire nation group to be happy together, all four of them, like when they were children.

"Drop it Ty Lee!" Mai yelled and threw a knife dangerously close to Ty Lee, missing on purpose, but proving her point.

"Why?" Ty Lee asked, in a softer tone than before.

"Zuko is our childhood friend, but we're not children anymore. Just forget about it, it wasn't meant to be and I knew it, not if Zuko stopped doing what he was expected to do. I hoped he would stay that way, but I guess he wasn't really happy." Mai began to walk towards Omashu. "I'm getting us some transport then we're heading back home. We'll report we fought and lost."

Ty Lee sighed; she knew very well she couldn't win. Sokka was glaring daggers at her, though Suki assured her Azula was to blame and the other two were just following orders.

"Zuko, did you date her only because she asked and you were expected to agree?" Ty Lee asked.

Zuko had been quietly watching the conversation unfold without saying anything until then, "yes..."

"I see," Ty Lee began to walk away, following the same direction Mai had taken. "It's too bad you couldn't stay on our side."

"Is it really okay to let them go?" Sokka asked.

"Azula and Ozai are the real enemies; they're just pawns to them." Suki assured him.

The group rode on Appa, and disappeared into the skies, making sure they weren't followed. Katara healed Suki and they decided to celebrate the reunion; they headed towards an Earth Kingdom town, not yet conquered by the Fire Nation.

To be Continued

Disclaimer, I don't own Avatar: The Last Air Bender. The scene at the end of Chapter 11 where they feed each other was suggested by Mrs. Aang. The theme of rain (used in Eruption 12) is for HarvestMoonGlows. HarvestMoonGlows also suggested Zuko and Toph getting lost in a cave in a review, which happened on Eruption 17.