You watch Aang and Zuko practice firebending from the porch. It was nice to lay on a bed with your girlfriend for a change. You and Toph have gotten even closer since the night she saw you for the first time, if that's even possible. She's gotten more flirty and calm around you. She lays down with her head in your lap and Katara sits beside you. You're all in your Fire Nation attire. When a break in the training is called, Katara asks a question that's been on your mind since you all arrived. "Doesn't it seem kind of weird that we're hiding from the firelord in his own house?"
"I told you, my father hasn't been here since our family was actually happy, and that was a long time ago. It's the last place anyone would think to look for us."
"You guys are not gonna believe this." Sokka hypes, coming through the gate, "There's a play about us."
"How?" You ask.
"I don't know." Suki says, "But we were just in town and we found this poster." Sokka pulls it out.
"Listen to this." Sokka says before reading the poster, "The Boy In the Iceberg is a new production from acclaimed playwright: Puan Tin."
"Why him?" You groan, "No offense, Sparkle Fingers, but your people have awful taste."
"None taken."
"He scoured the globe, gathering information on the Avatar, from the icy South Pole, to the heart of Ba Sing Se. His sources include: Singing nomads, pirates, prisoners of war, a pet store owner and a surprisingly knowledgeable merchant of cabbage."
"Brought to you by the Ember Island Players." Suki adds, causing you and Zuko to audibly groan.
"My mother used to take us to see them." Zuko says, "They butchered Love Amongst the Dragons every year."
"You think that's bad? Try watching them butcher your own family's history." You reply, "If they bring back the actor who played my dad, this director is dead to me."
"That's a little harsh." Zuko replies.
"Sokka do you really think it's a good idea for us to attend a play about ourselves?"
"Come on, a day at the theater? This is the kind of wacky, time wasting nonsense I've been missing! Come on, Y/N, wasn't your mom an actor?"
"Two things, one: actress, two: these guys made her physically nauseous."
"Well we have to see it to believe it."
Soon, you're in your seats. You sit next to Toph, then Katara, then Zuko, Aang sits behind you all dejectedly with Sokka and Suki. "Why are we sitting in the nosebleed section?" Toph asks, "My feet can't see a thing from up here!" Then she puts her hand on yours. "I'll be fine. Don't worry."
"Yeah Y/N, don't worry, I'll tell her feet what's happening." Katara inputs.
Then they lift the curtains to show a rather impressive set piece with two people supposed to represent Katara and Sokka. "Sokka, my only brother, we constantly roam these icy South Pole seas, and yet never do we find anything fulfilling."
"Well she's as good at acting as Katara." you mutter, before she thwaps you on the chest. "Owie!"
"All I want is a full feeling in my stomach, I'm starving!" Not-Sokka says, somehow everyone finds this funny.
"Is food the only thing on your mind?"
"Well, I'm trying to get it out of my mind and into my mouth. I'm starving!" More laughter.
"This is pathetic! My jokes are way funnier than this." Sokka hisses.
Toph laughs at her friend's expense, "I think he's got you pegged." Then she wraps her arm around you.
"Every day, the world awaits a beacon to guide us, yet none appears. Still, we cannot give up hope, for hope is all we have." Stage-Katara gets emotional, and you start to chuckle. "And we must never relinquish it, even... even to our dying breath." She starts to sob and you laugh at her as Toph leans against you, having herself a belly laugh.
"Well that's just silly. I don't sound like that."
"Oh man, this writer's a genius." Toph manages between laughs. When you both finish laughing, a bright light bursts out of an iceberg. You look back at the stage.
"It appears to be someone frozen in the ice, perhaps for a hundred years!" Stage-Katara says.
"But who? Who is the boy in the iceberg?" You cringe, roll credits. Ding!
"Waterbend. Hi-ya!" She karate chops the ice and it opens to reveal... Aang played by a chick. You barely hold back laughter. "Who are you, frozen boy?"
Not Aang laughs, "I'm the Avatar, silly, here to spread joy and fun!"
"Wait, is that a woman playing me?!" A baffled Aang asks. You burst out in laughter. And then out comes Appa, growling and making... some sort of monkey-like noise.
Stage-Katara gasps, "An airbender. My heart is so full of hope that it's making me tearbend!" She gets on her knees and clutches onto Not-Aang's leg, crying. You chuckle.
"My stomach is so empty that it's making me tearbend!" Not-Sokka cries, mirroring his sister's actions. "I need meat."
Not-Aang gasps and points to the distance. "But wait! Is that a platter of meaty dumplings?"
"Ooh! Where, where?"
Not-Aang laughs, "Did I mention that I'm an incurable prankster?"
The crowd laughs and you sigh. "Every actor in this sucks." You groan.
"Don't be such a stick in the mud, Y/N." Toph says, cuddling into you. Then Aang explodes.
"I don't do that, that's not what I'm like! And I'm not a woman!!"
Toph laughs and to infuriate the airbender more, she says, "Oh, they nailed you, Twinkle-Toes." At least someone's having fun.
The next set piece is a Fire Nation ship. Who you think is supposed to be Zuko stands on the nose, and Iroh is about halfway up deck.
"Prince Zuko, you must try this cake." False-Iroh says.
"I don't have time to stuff my face." Fake-Zuko replies, angrily, "I must capture the Avatar to regain my honor!"
"That's the guy who played my dad!" You realize, pointing at False-Iroh. "Shit, you'd think he's too old for this shit by now."
"Well, while you do that, maybe I'll capture another slice." Then he shoves the cake into his face.
"You sicken me." Fake-Zuko grunts before looking back into his telescope.
"They make me look totally stiff and humorless." Zuko complains.
"Actually, I think that actor's pretty spot-on." Katara smugly replies.
"How could you say that?!" Zuko demands.
On stage False-Iroh walks up to Fake-Zuko. "Let's forget about the Avatar and get massages."
"How could you say that?!" Zuko's actor shouts. And so you start to tune the play out in favor of thoughts more otherworldly until the blissful break of intermission comes along.
You all sit outside. "Somehow, these fuckers got worse." You groan.
"Yeah." Zuko agrees, "So far, this intermission has been the best part of the play."
"Apparently, the playwright thinks I'm an idiot who tells bad jokes about meat all the time." Sokka complains.
"Yeah," Suki teases, "You tell bad jokes about plenty of other topics."
"I know!" Sokka exclaims angrily, clearly not hearing everything she said.
"At least the Sokka actor kinda looked like you." Aang says, making Sokka look at him like he said something about aliens, "The woman playing the Avatar doesn't resemble me at all."
"I don't know, you are more in touch with your feminine side than most guys." Toph replies snarkily.
Aang growls in anger and Katara looks up, "Relax, Aang." She says, "They're not accurate portrayals. It's not like I'm a preachy crybaby who can't resist over-emotional speeches about hope all the time." Everyone except you, who aren't better yourself, look at her oddly. "What?" Katara questions.
"Yeah." Aang says obtusely, "That's not you at all."
"Listen friends, it's obvious that the playwright did his research. I know it must hurt, but what you're seeing up on that stage is the truth."
"That doesn't excuse the atrocious acting. The girl playing Katara can't even cry right." You remark. "While it's impressive how accurate he got it just from the resources he has, however, Puan Tin is the most hated playwright outside of the Fire Nation. He's had a bad sense of comedy for years."
"Those are valid criticisms." Toph admits.
"Thank you." You say, "And I'm glad that at least someone appreciates it."
You have been watching the play for a while with your arm around Toph, her laugh forces a laugh out of you several times. Eventually, they are at her part.
"Well here we are in the Earth kingdom." Stage-Katara says.
"I'd better have a look around and see if I can find an earthbending teacher." Not-Aang says before popping out his(?) hand glider and being pulled through the air, which is admittedly impressive.
"This is it!" Toph whisper-cheers, "This must be where I come in." She wraps her arms around your arm in anticipated excitement.
Not-Aang lands again, "I flew all over town and I couldn't find a single earthbending master!"
You hear the drum roll and Toph lets go of you and leans over the rail, "Here it comes..."
A hulking figure lifts a rock from underneath. "You can't find earthbender in sky, you must look underground." No fucking shit.
"Who are you?" Not Aang asks.
"My name Toph, because it sound like tough, which is what I am."
"Wait... Y/N, is that who I think it is?" You reply in a shocked gasp that resembles a 'yes.' "They got The Giant to play me?!"
"Well Toph, what you hear up there is the truth." Katara slyly states, "It hurts, doesn't it?"
"Are you kidding me? I wouldn't have cast it any other way!" she cheers. Then giggles, "At least it's not a flying bald lady." Aang glares.
"So... you're blind?" Not-Aang asks Buff-Toph, waving his hand in Buff-Toph's face.
Buff-Toph laughs heartily, "I see that. I see everything you see except I see differently. I release sonic wave from mouth." Then he screams in Not-Aang's face. Hui Yin is surprisingly long winded, "There, I got pretty good look at you."
"Dear, stop flirting with these hooligans." A boy comes out in glasses. He's apparently you
"Come on Y/N, this boy needs teacher."
"Holy fucking shit, that's Cheng!" You practically shout.
"That kid from the college?" Sokka asks.
"Well he's your age, but yeah!" You exclaim.
Eventually, this newfound intrigue fades as you watch the play droll on, Toph only getting you to really pay attention during the action scenes, where you and Toph kick ass, luckily they at least got that right. Otherwise, Toph leans against you and you lean back in the seat with half-open eyes, trying not to fall asleep. At some point Aang gets up and leaves angrily, you get up to follow him.
"Be right back." You mutter. You catch up to the kid outside, "Hey, Cueball. What's wrong?"
"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."
"It's Katara, isn't it?" Aang looks down. "I get it. You're afraid she doesn't feel the same. That's nothing to run away from."
"You don't get it. You're charming, you're funny, you have that weirdness that girls love. I don't have any of that. Toph liked you from the moment we met you." The airbender says. There's no malice, no anything really, his voice is hollow.
"I'm lucky because of my energy, I get that. But my love life has had some rotten fruit too. Im not a very confident person romantically either, just go off my gut. I know what it's like to be afraid to ask, afraid to make a move. You're making a rookie mistake right now. You're letting your emotions get the better of you without an outlet." Aang averts his eyes, "I say you follow your gut. Zei always told me that it knows best." You pat his shoulder and move back inside. Toph is leaning against a wall. "Hey, what'd I miss?" You ask.
"Eh, not much." She admits, "You missed our big fight scene, but that's about it."
You kiss her and smile, "I'm gonna meet up with Hui and tell him the deal, yeah?"
"Fuck yeah!" Toph cheers. "Zuko, you'll love Hui. He's just like his character, minus being me..." You don't hear the rest as you walk backstage.
"Well look who the cat dragged in." You say. Hui and Cheng look at you and Cheng wraps you in a hug. "Hey bud, easy the shirt, yeah? It's fine linen!" You groan. "Hui, my man, look at you! How'd you even get here?"
"I, you can say, bail from situation." Hui Yin says, putting a hand on your shoulder. "And I'm ready to fight when you say."
"Good. Cheng, fuck it's so good to see you. Where's Bo?"
"He's... in a worse predicament than Hui Yin was."
"Fuck." You grunt, "And the rest?"
"When you left, the Organization broke apart, we didn't know what to do." Cheng states.
"You're the head now. When you have the chance, help liberate Ba Sing Se, if it kills you."
"But-"
"No. No buts." You place a hand on his shoulder. "You're the hero we need." He nods and pulls back. "You will both come with us when this show is over." They nod. "Good. We'll be waiting."
You all leave disappointed by the production, seeing Not-Aang defeated by Ozai, Fake-Zuko killed by Azula and you killed in Buff-Toph's arms. Hui Yin and Cheng are waiting for you outside and they follow you home. "No offense guys, but that... wasn't a good play."
"None taken." Both actors agree. Everyone in your group goes into their opinions on the play, Toph holding your hand tightly, in fact it kinda hurts, but you ignore that and continue forwards.
"The effects were decent." Sokka says.
You all dejectedly walk home. As you change into your pajamas, you grab something- a note. Remember that the way to war isn't just the battles. You open the package and find a piece of hard steel and a handle. You understand. Underneath it, the note continues. To focus on the present, you must bury the past. -Piandao
You set it back in the bag and sigh before the door opens. Toph comes in in her robe, but takes it off. Your mouth drops open and you drop your bag. "Oh please, you've seen me in my underwear before. Remember when we went swimming?" You see the blush on her face.
You couldn't see this much in that swimsuit. "Uh... yeah. I just..." you exhale deeply, "Is it hot in here?" you ask before laughing nervously.
She giggles and walks towards you, "We've been together for six months, I think this should be fine." She gets on her tiptoes and kisses you, giving you an equal part loving and seductive look, "Right?"
"I guess?" Your fist is clenched in your pocket. "I'm sorry. I'm just a little nervous." You look at her toned body, her lean frame which you've studied from afar for a long time. You put your hand to her cheek. "I hope you know that you don't need to show me so much. All I need to do is look into your eyes and I fall in love all over again." She gives you a warm smile. "I love you. If you want to sleep half-naked with me, that's your choice."
"I do."
"Alrighty then." You both get into bed and she cuddles with you. "Night, Love Bug."
"Love Bug?"
"Don't like it?"
"It's cute." she yawns before giving you a small smile, her head laid on your chest, "I like it, Dreamy."
"I'm not Graceless anymore?"
"Just around the others." She kisses you. "These will be our personal nicknames."
"How am I dreamy?"
"Let's see, you're tall, handsome, smart, kind, funny, muscular... you're the most dreamy guy I've ever met."
"How do you know if I'm handsome? I'm the only guy you've ever seen."
"I don't need to see any other guys." she pushes another kiss onto you, it's hard and romantic, full of heat and passion. She pulls you in by the back of your head and holds you there. You rub her sides up and down and she moans into a deeper kiss, suddenly something starts poking your lips, you go off of instinct, letting your tongues tossle around until the door opens, shocking Toph into biting your lip, not the seductive way either.
"Ah! Moutherfucker! Who is it?!" You shout.
"Oh! Sorry, I uh- I didn't mean to interrupt." Cheng says and you quickly throw the blanket over Toph.
"Don't you know how to knock?" You demand as he frantically apologizes.
"I did, I- I just wanted- uh- to ask you- uh if you maybe liked me in the play?"
It takes everything in your power not to snap and curse him out, but you take a deep breath and sigh it out. "For what you had, it was fine." You grunt. "Is that it?"
"Yes."
"Goodnight, Cheng." You grunt. He returns the message and leaves before you turn back to Toph, "Where were we?" You start to kiss again, and just when you're picking up steam, the door opens again. You punch the bed in frustration and Toph pulls the blanket over herself once more. "Hello, Hui."
"Oh, hello, oh. Ooooh. I interrupt you. I sorry."
"You're fine." Toph says, annoyed, "What do you need?"
"I need to find washroom."
"Down the hall, last door on the left." Toph directs, he nods and leaves closing the door behind him, most of the way. It creaks back open before you even kiss her again.
"Sokka, if this is you, I'm gonna snap your fucking neck!"
"Huh?!" Sokka calls from the other room.
"Nothing!" you call back before something jumps into your lap, runs across you and lays down on Toph. It's Momo. "Well, looks like us time isn't happening. Again." You sigh.
"Well I've been on my feet all day and-"
"I know, I know." You yawn and move to her feet. "You'd better be glad I love you."
"I love you too." she whispers.