Zuko was not looking forward to this meeting.
He had spent the night prior treating his shoulder and looking for a wealthy house. After settling on the Beifong estate as his target, he got back to the inn and had exactly two hours of sleep before the sun rose and woke him up.
"Rising with the sun is bullshit. Why do I have to have to wake up at dawn every morning? Shitty sun." Zuko muttered to himself as he entered the empty arena under the mountain.
"What's got you so grumpy today, Scruffy? You look like shit." Toph said as she spotted Zuko entering the arena.
"I'm tired you brat, leave me alone. Besides, how can you tell what I look like, you're blind." Zuko replied as he took a seat in the stands beside her.
"I don't need eyesight to tell you're barely functioning right now. Besides, I can see just fine, I just don't need the vision to do it." She replied as she started picking her toes.
Zuko looked in disgust as he watched her move onto her nose and flick the snot into the ring.
"Yeah, whatever. I don't care how you can see me, I just want to honor our deal and leave this shitty town as soon as possible." He said as leaned back and waited for her to start asking her stupid questions so he could go home.
"Geez Scruffy, fine. But if you're leaving I want to have an actual conversation with you. That means you ask me questions too. It'll be boring if you just leave after three measly questions." She leaned back and stomped her feet, wondering when the stranger would realize he didn't have a choice in the matter.
Zuko glared at her until he realized it was ineffective and growled, "That wasn't part of the deal. I'm not gonna waste time here." He started to get up but stopped when he realized that the entrance to the arena was sealed shut.
"That's unfortunate Scruffy, cuz you can't get out of here till you have a conversation with me." She started picking her nose again as he clenched his fists and turned back to her. She figured he was probably glaring at her, much good that'll do. She stared back at him until he sat back down.
"Why?" He asked.
"Why what? Why did I change the deal or why do I wanna have a conversation with you?"
"Why do you want to have a conversation with me?" He asked, hoping to understand why this little girl couldn't just ask her three questions and leave him alone.
If she's just curious there's no reason to change the deal we had originally. And it's not like we're friends, so there's no reason for her to answer any of my questions when she doesn't have to.
A childish voice whispered in his head, Could we have been friends back then?
He shook his head and looked back at the girl who seemed to be mulling over her answer.
After a bout of silence, she finally spoke, "Everyone I've ever met has always thought I was blind and helpless. You were the first person who saw me and didn't react with pity or sympathy. I guess I just want to know why you did that. I feel like I can do that better if we have a conversation, rather than me just interrogating you." She looked at him, hoping he would understand.
Zuko was silent for a long time after that. It's not like he didn't understand how she was feeling, because he did. It was the same for him after he got his scar. Surrounded by people looking at him with pity. Telling him how he'd be alright, trying to comfort him even when he knew he had lost everything. Not seeing that he wasn't going to break just because he was scared of fire. Not seeing that he wouldn't give up just because he failed his Father and was punished for it.
He looked at the little girl next to him and realized she probably didn't even notice it. She was looking at him blankly, not focusing on one side of his face or the other like most people do when looking at him.
She can't see my scar. She might not even realize I have one.
He looked at her and wondered how she would treat him since she didn't know about it. He wondered if he could talk to her and pretend like his scar wasn't even there. If he could talk to her and pretend he didn't lose his honor and get banished for it.
He looked at her and decided to try it, seeing as the chances of meeting someone else who was blind during his travels were low. He decided he wanted to talk to her too, he wanted to talk to someone who didn't look at him and immediately react with hate or pity.
He took a deep breath and decided to answer her first question.
"You remind me of my sister."